The Epiphany of the Lord

January 3, 2023

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord we are called to ask God to lead us closer to the kingdom. God leads us just as surely as the star led the magi to Bethlehem. We are not in control, but we must trust in God’s loving presence and sure guidance. As we start a new year, this is the best opportunity to ask God to guide us through our lives in a new way. Let’s try not to limit God, but allow an limitless God to guide us through all the wonderful possibilities of our lives.

The Epiphany story is our story and shows us all the ways in which God calls each of us. Like the Magi in the Gospel story, we experience the guidance of God sometimes as brightly as the star that shown on the magi. Now as we are shone the light of Christ in our lives, it is up to us t follow that light in our lives to make a better world for the rest of humanity.

Beginning this weekend, we are restoring the practice of distributing Holy Communion from the chalice to the faithful on a limited stations basis. We will start with two communion stations at each mass. We will increase the number of stations with the increase in reception for the distribution of Holy communion from the chalice.

Cardinal DiNardo states: “Beginning Sunday, January 8, 2023, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, I am restoring the practice of distributing Holy Communion from the chalice to the faithful throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. I ask that all parishes resume their customary pre-pandemic practice of distributing Holy Communion from the chalice to the faithful on this date. I understand there may be some members of the faithful who are not comfortable receiving Holy Communion under this form due to ongoing health concerns related to the pandemic. However, as has always been the case, reception of Holy Communion from the chalice is left to the discretion of the communicant, and therefore does not constitute a reason to delay distributing Holy Communion from the chalice to the faithful.”

I ask for your patience as we begin to move to restoring the practice of distributing Holy Communion from the chalice. Cardinal DiNardo goes to state that “ Understanding that some of the faithful may not be comfortable receiving Holy Communion under this form due to health concerns, Cardinal reminds us that, as always, reception of Holy Communion from the chalice is at the discretion of the communicant.”

Once again I want to thank all the wonderful people who were responsible for decorating the Church this Christmas season. There have been many people who have worked long and hard of the past few months to make sure that the people of St. Hyacinth could celebrate the incarnation our Lord. Thank you all for your time and generosity to make this Christmas season special for all.

I want to thank our entire ministry team who help bring to St. Hyacinth wonderful Christmas season liturgies. Without the Sacristans, Ushers, Greeters, Altar servers, Readers, Acolytes, Musicians, and Choirs; we could not have a Christmas celebration in the Church. Thank you all and your efforts are appreciated by everyone.

One of our goals for 2023 is to increase the number of people using our electronic formats for the dissemination of information from our parish. We have our website: Sthyaicnth.org, which is updated almost daily with information about the activities that go on in the parish. There is Flocknotes, which is our information delivery service for the parish, in which we email and or text information about the activities of the parish. Go to Flocknote.com/sthyhouston and join the group “Parishioners”. We are on Facebook, go and ‘like’ our Facebook page at   https://www.facebook.com/StHyacinthchurch .


God Bless
Fr. Reginald Samuels