Unity is what God wants us to strive for. We are called to embrace each other in the Church as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Unity is made real in the Eucharist. As we have in our readings this weekend, sin has real consequences in our lives. It separates us from the love of God and each other. However, God does not end the relationship with us, He keeps calling us back to unity, and He keeps us moving forward in order for us to be unified with Him.
First, I want to congratulate all the young people of our parish who were confirmed this past week in a special confirmation Mass led by Auxiliary Biship Italo Dell ‘Oro. A special thank you for our Director of Faith Formation, Mrs. Pamalla Johnson and her team for working with the confirmandi of our parish. I want to give a special thanks to our Director of Music and liturgy, Mrs. Pamala Pittman who worked with all the Liturgy team to make the evening special for our confirmandi.
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 26-28, 2024. To Register for AYC go to AYC 2024 (swoogo.com). If you are interested in making a 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. One of our parish goals in 2024 is to increase the number of families supporting St Hyacinth using electronic and online giving. Currently we less than 200 families using electronic giving. You can register in less than five minutes by logging sthaycinth.org and simply go to the online giving page on our website and sign up for online giving at https://sthyacinth.org/online-giving. Next, mark your calendar for August 18,2024 for the celebration of the 59th 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.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who has wished me well for the celebration of 15 years of Priesthood. My anniversary date was May 30th, however due to logistical issues, we will have a small celebration after each of the masses this weekend. It has been a remarkable journey. Just remember, I have spent 12 of the 15 years of my priesthood as Pastor of St. Hyacinth.