Fr. Reginald's Weekly Column

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ The Most Holy Trinity is a central mystery of Christian faith and life, celebrating the belief that God is One God in Three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons. The Father begets the Son and loves him, and the Son loves the Father in return. This love is so powerful that it breathes forth another Divine Person: the Holy Spirit. We are called to practice the Trinitarian relationship of love and unity in the family. The relationships of father, mother, and children are the upmost important and by Baptism we become children of God and members of God’s Trinitarian family. Today’s feast invites us to live in the awareness of the presence of the Triune God within us: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Next, mark your calendar for August 19-20, 2023, for the celebration of the 58th anniversary of our parish. Planning has already begun for the celebration of our parish with food, fun and prizes. We will have further details as the weeks go by on how we can make the celebrations of our parish a wonderful event for the church and community. Preparation and registration has begun for the Archdiocesan Youth Conference (AYC) which gathers participants from all over the local Church. AYC is the largest evangelizing event for older adolescents that the Archdiocese hosts annually. The youth conference will be held at the Hilton Americas Hotel on July 28-30, 2023. To Register for AYC go to https://sthyacinth.org/archdiocesan-youth-conference-ayc . If you are interested in making an donation towards the AYC scholarship fund to help a youth of our parish attend who are unable to afford the full price, it would be GREATLY appreciated. Due to the damage to the Church complex, the St. Vincent De Paul and the SVdP food pantry are working out of First Baptist Church of Deer Park on 8th Street. If there is a need for assistance, please call 281- 497 -3131. Since we are not longer able to collect food here at St. Hyacinth, we are asking parishioners to donate food to the Community Food Bank at Fr. Methodist on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00am to 2:00pm. Thank you for your generosity. Next, we are currently providing livestreaming of the Masses here at St. Hyacinth. Please go to our website Sthyacinth.org, St. Hyacinth Facebook page, St. Hyacinth YouTube channel, or St. Hyacinth Viemo.com page to view the current livestream masses. The Livestream Mass can be seen through our website page. If there is a homily that you want to rehear, you can go to YouTube channel and look at the mass again. One of our parish goals in 2023 is to increase the number of families supporting St Hyacinth using Faith Direct and online giving. Currently we have only 208 families using Faith Direct. You can register in less than five minutes signing up for online giving at https://sthyacinth.org/online-giving. Finally, please welcome to St. Hyacinth Trieu Nguyen, a Seminarian studying for the priesthood for Galveston – Houston. Mr. Nguyen has been assigned to our parish for this summer. Please take the time to say hello to Trieu after one of the Masses. God Bless, Fr. Reginald Samuels

Pentecost Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Today concludes the Paschal feast that began fifty days ago on Easter Sunday. In the gospel, Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit by breathing on the disciples. The gift of the Holy Spirit enables us to know that the gifts that God gives us are unique to us and we are called to use those gifts for the Glory of God. S. Paul reminds us that all gifts come from God. Instead of comparing our abilities and talents to those around us, let us focus on how we can use our gifts for the good of all. For this Sunday’s Mass we will sing the Pentecost sequence before the Gospel reading. Along with the Easter Sunday sequence, these sequences remain the only two mandatory parts of the liturgy that introduces the Gospel in the Catholic Church. The text of the sequence is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives with practical manifestations of divine power and love. Next I want to thank everyone who has wished me well on the celebration of 14 years of Priesthood on May 30th. It has been a remarkable journey. Just remember, I have spent 11 of the 14 years of my priesthood as Pastor of St. Hyacinth. Next, mark your calendar for August 19-20, 2023, for the celebration of the 58th anniversary of our parish. Planning has already begun for the celebration of our parish with food, fun and prizes. We will have further details as the weeks go by on how we can make the celebrations of our parish a wonderful event for the church and community. Preparation and registration has begun for the Archdiocesan Youth Conference (AYC) which gathers participants from all over the local Church. AYC is the largest evangelizing event for older adolescents that the Archdiocese hosts annually. The youth conference will be held at the Hilton Americas Hotel on July 28-30, 2023. To Register for AYC go to https://sthyacinth.org/archdiocesan-youth-conference-ayc . If you are interested in making an donation towards the AYC scholarship fund to help a youth of our parish attend who are unable to afford the full price, it would be GREATLY appreciated. Finally, we want to congratulate all our resent High school, and college graduates of our parish. We are proud of your accomplishments. To honor your achievements, we will have a special blessing next Sunday at 10:00 am Mass on June 4th for all our high school and college graduates. Please make sure that you bring your cap and gowns. God Bless, Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, On the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, we remember Jesus words to his friends and Disciples before he was taken up to heaven: “that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” We have been all commissioned by Jesus to share the good news of the gospel. Now that the gospel has been entrusted to us, it is our duty to preach the healing love of Christ, perform acts of charity, plant the seeds of peace and be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in this world. Due to the damage to the Church complex, the St. Vincent De Paul and the SVdP food pantry are working out of First Baptist Church of Deer Park on 8th Street. If there is a need for assistance, please call 281- 497 -3131. Since we are not longer able to collect food here at St. Hyacinth, we are asking parishioners to donate food to the Community Food Bank at the Methodist Church of Deer Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00am to 2:00pm. Thank you for your generosity. Next, we are currently providing livestreaming of the Masses here at St. Hyacinth. Please go to our website Sthyacinth.org, St Hyacinth Facebook page, St Hyacinth YouTube channel, or St Hyacinth Viemo.com page to view the current livestream masses. The Livestream Mass can be seen through our website page. If there is a homily that you want to rehear, you can go to YouTube channel and look at the mass again. One of our parish goals in 2023 is to increase the number of families supporting St Hyacinth using Faith Direct and online giving. Currently we have only 208 families using Faith Direct. You can register in less than five minutes by logging sthaycinth.org and pressing the Faith Direct icon and entering our parish code of TX526 or by just simply go to the online giving page on our website and sign up for online giving at https://sthyacinth.org/online-giving. Next, due to the rising inflation and the increase in the cost of running the church complex, we are modifying our parish office hours for the Summer. Beginning with Friday May 26th , our parish offices will be closed on Fridays during the summer. We will resume regular Friday office hours beginning on September 8th. Finally, as we had into the memorial day holiday and the start of Summer, I want us all to take the time to honor and mourn those who dies while serving our country. Please take a moment and pray for all the men and women who serve our country and protect our freedoms. God Bless, Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we reflect on the readings for this week, we are reminded of the profound gift that Jesus has given us in the Holy Spirit. Even though Jesus is no longer with us physically, Jesus has not left us on our own. In the gospel readings this week, Jesus speaks of the coming of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in His name. This Spirit will teach us everything and remind us of all that Jesus has said to us. Through the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to be witnesses to Christ in the world. The power of the Holy Spirit is beautifully illustrated in the early Christian community, as seen The Acts of the Apostles, which is completely driven by the Holy Spirit. The apostles preached the Good News with such power that many came to faith and were baptized. The Holy Spirit acted through apostles, inspiring them to boldly proclaim the Gospel and perform miraculous signs and wonders. When the apostles laid hands on the newly faithful, many received the gifts of Holy Spirit. As we reflect on these readings for this week, we need to know that evangelization is not something that we can do on our own. We need to let the Holy Spirit act through us and in us. When we share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, we must do so with a deep awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance. We must be open to the Holy Spirit to use us as instruments of God’s grace and love. For 2023, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $85,000. DSF supports more than 60 ministries and programs that serve the faithful of the Archdiocese and us here at St. Hyacinth. Go to https://www.archgh.org/ways-to-give/diocesan-services-fund-dsf/donate-to-dsf/ to donate online. Next, thank you for your support and patience as we move back towards recovery. We are working diligently to get our systems back on track at the Church. Hopefully, by the time that this bulletin is written, we will have the phone systems up and running. In the meantime, we have moved our parish offices to Guyot Hall. We will be maintaining the regular parish office hours in Guyot Hall. Please keep us in your prayers. Finally, I want to wish all the Mothers of St. Hyacinth a Happy and beautiful Mothers' Day. Please continue to pray for all those who have lost their own mothers from the past year. God Bless, Fr. Reginald Samuels