Thirty - Third Week of Ordinary Time - St Hyacinth Catholic Church

November 10, 2020

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

In this week’s gospel message, Jesus offers us another parable about being prepared for the day which we will meet him at the end of our lives. The parable reinforces the importance of every action in the life of discipleship. The small task of care and love that we do or neglect to do every day are what make up the life of faith in the believer.

This holiday season will present many ways in which our community can show its generosity. The Christmas season and the time for giving are just around the corner. The 2020 STHY Christmas gift list is has been released 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 and see how you can share the gift of Christmas with STHY.

Unfortunately this year due to Church COVID -19 guidelines we will not be able to place the STHY Angel tree in the narthex of the Church; however, the 2020 Angel Tree project will continue in a new way with the gift of gift cards. We are asking everyone to donate gift cards in the amount of $20 - $40 this year. (Cash Cannot Be Accepted). Beginning next weekend, please drop off Gift Cards ONLY in our special clear collection boxes at the back of the Church and in the Narthex marked Gift Cards for Angel Tree.

          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 1044 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.

          For 2020, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $84,000. This year, our parish has collected $61,887 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 $22,122 deficit in DSF. It’s truly our baptism calling for generosity as the Cardinal tells us “Bring Your Greatest Gifts To The Lord” Thank you for your continued generosity towards DSF.

   Finally, the HVAC unit to the Guyot Hall kitchen is down and it looks like it may not be able to be repaired. The Archdiocese is helping us access the condition of the 15 year old unit. This issue is an addition to the boiler for the Church that is no longer working. We will keep you informed as to our progress.

God Bless
Fr. Reginald Samuels