Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

November 5, 2019

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

In this weeks Sunday Gospel we witness two major sects in Judaism in the time of Jesus , Sadducees and the Pharisees, accuse Jesus of blasphemy, complain when he eats with sinners and reproach him for breaking the law when he heals on the Sabbath. Jesus turns all their criticisms around by letting them know that God does not work on a human understanding. Jesus goes to teach that Gods mercy is not based on human effort but on the love of God alone. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, Jesus calls people away for the boxes in which they have placed God. He preaches and reveals a God beyond human comprehension.

For the Month of November, The Book of the Names of the Dead will be in the Baptistery area of the Church for those who want to write the names of deceased loved ones whom we can pray for. One of the most beautiful responsibilities we have as Catholics is to pray for our dead. Through prayer, fasting and good works we offer on behalf of the deceased, we pray that God’s purification will be granted to all of the faithful departed so that they can obtain their soul’s desire, eternal life in heaven. In communion with the faithful departed as members of the Church, it is our responsibility and privilege to assist them with our prayers and holy works.
Next, I need to address the approximately the over 986 registered families here at STHY that we have no record of your giving to the Church. We do acknowledge that many are giving to the Church through the weekend collection; however, STHY needs you start using your envelopes or move toward electronic giving. We currently spend close to $10K a year on offertory envelopes and if we could use our electronic giving, this would reduce the expense of mailed offertory envelopes dramatically.

Everyone’s gift of a weekly tithe in the offertory is a great act of Stewardship. And remember, you can do in two ways, through your parish envelopes that are mailed to you or electronically through www.faithdirect.net by entering parish code TX 526. It’s fast, easy and, yes, very secure, and a great way to support the work of our parish.

There will be several capital repair and improvement projects that are currently on the schedule for STHY. First, we will be working on additional Guyot Hall repairs to the roof (waterproof /seal) at a cost of approximately $7000, in addition to making improvements to the lighting and electrical systems around Guyot Hall at a cost of approximately $11,000. Next, we need to replace the carpet in the Guyot Hall youth room at a cost of approximately $2500. Next, we will focus on the making the necessary continued repairs on the ‘P’ Street Parking lot. We are currently working on accepting bids from contractors. The Center Street parking has been repainted and sealed and now we need to move to improving the ‘P” street parking lot. The bids for the parking lot are coming in at a cost of approximately $12,000. We are currently looking at having these projects completed by Spring/Summer 2020. Once these items are taken care of, then we will have to focus our attention to the Center street doors of the Church and the main doors to Guyot Hall. We are currently examining contractors for the building and replacements of the doors. Thank you for your generosity to our capital improvement fund.

Next, I need to let everyone know that our boiler is not working. We are currently working with contractors to assess the best way to address of our aging boiler system to the Church.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who participated in our IGNITE receptions for the Archdiocese IGNITE capital campaign. Thank you for your time and generosity. Our Goal Archdiocese IGNITE capital campaign is $750,000 over 3 ½ to 4 years with some $253,000 to be returned to the Church earmarked for new lighting and flooring in Guyot Hall. We will have one more IGNITE reception on this Tuesday November 12^th at 7:00 pm. Please, come out and ask questions and gather information to help you determine your sacrificial gift. Please RSVP one of the receptions at [email protected]. Now is the time to truly think about how we are going to support this great effort of our Archdiocese.

God Bless
Fr. Reginald Samuels