Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

September 25, 2018

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In this Sundays Gospel, Jesus exalts the work of those who teach, by the example of their lives, his Gospel of Justice, reconciliation, and Compassion. We are all called to show the people of the world that the meaning of our faith reveals the mercy of God to those who do not know God. To “Teach” with conviction without judgement, is to transform our world one generation at a time.

To celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assis we will have the blessing of Pets on October 6^th following the Healing mass, outside in the Center Street Parking lot. Please bring your pets to be blessed.

October is Respect Life Month with Sunday October 7^th being Respect for Life Sunday. There will be a ‘Prayer Chain’ to witness against the horrors of abortion on Center Street. Those that are interested are called to meet in Guyot Hall immediately after the noon Mass and then gather on Center Street to stand silently from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm. If you are not able to be a part of the prayer chain, please pray for those who will be participating for our community.
On July 1, 2018 we began a new fiscal year at STHY as did all of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of the chief responsibilities of a pastor is sound management of the Church’s temporal goods and prudent and balanced management of all financial responsibilities. Copies of the FY 2018 Financial report are in the Narthex and or online at Sthyacinth.org.

I can report that STHY financial health is stable to good, but can always be better. The Church bills are being paid; we are in good standing with all of our Archdiocesan obligations. However, STHY’s finances going forward in 2018 and 2019 will be challenged by the increase in the cost of ministry obligations and the increase in the cost of the maintaining the aging infrastructures of the main Church and parish facilities.
I thank each of you for your continued sacrifice, week in and week out, to support the ministries and operations of our parish. Only with your support are we able to do the work of the Gospel. Thank you very much.

The projected FY 2019 budget is drastically conservative in nature, with collections forecast to increase only by 2% for the year. Due to the challenges we face here at St. Hyacinth in the coming year, the budget cannot account for all of the major increase in the costs and expenses for ministry and to take care of our 48 year old Church building and our 34 year old Guyot Hall building. The Main Church building, Guyot Hall, Guyot Hall kitchen, Religious Education Building, and parking lot infrastructures are aging and need major attention and repairs in the very near future. This is main reason and objective goal for our Building Faith, Family and Future…. Our sanctuary … our Home… capital campaign. I pray that you’re continued giving will exceed our forecast. As our parish and ministries continue to do the work commissioned by Christ, we must all continue to be good stewards of God’s gifts so we can effectively serve those who seek to encounter Christ at STHY.

I ask that you prayerfully consider reviewing your weekly giving to the parish, and if it has remained at a constant and consistent level the past few years, please consider increasing it.

However, I do want to address the approximately the over 1008 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. In this way we can account for all those who are a part of the parish that are truly giving and it is an expense of the church for envelopes to be mailed to registered families. 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.

God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels