Today’s celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ originated in the Diocese of Liege in 1246, under the title of the feast of Corpus Christi. Under the Vatican II reforms, the feast of Corpus Christi was combined with the feast of the Precious Blood (July 1) to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Christ. As we honor the gift of Christ Body and Blood we have to know that the gift of the Eucharist must be shared. The words that Jesus speaks in our Gospel are the same words that are spoken at every Eucharistic celebration. In the sharing of the Body of Christ, we become the Body of Christ. Our participation in the Eucharist binds us to the sacrifice and victory of Christ. Each time we come to Mass and participate in the Eucharist, we give ourselves over to the power of Christ to live out the commandments that he has given us.
This weekend STHY will conduct the Archdiocese annual Corpus Christi collection for the support of the men studying for the Priesthood for our Archdiocese. Our Archdiocesan seminarians study not only at St. Mary’s seminary here in Houston, but also in seminaries in Dallas , San Antonio Texas, St. Benedict Louisiana, and Rome. This Sunday’s ENTIRE church collection goes towards the costs associated with the operating of St. Mary’s Seminary as well as the expenses of the education of seminarians. Thank you for your generosity.
The first phase of the Church renovation has started with the instillation of the new boiler system to provide heat for the Church, Religious Education building and offices. In the next few weeks with the replacement cooling systems for the Church and Church complex will start. The existing HVAC system is currently failing and needs to be replaced due to its age. The instillation will be a major undertaking to replace our aged system of the parish. The HVAC systems of the Church are interconnected with the Religious Education building and the work will be extensive. Thank you for your generosity towards STHY.
Furthermore, we have signed a contract with Studio Red Architects who will help guide us on phase two of the renovation of the Church. Studio Red Architects have provided their services to several of our parishes here in the Archdiocese, and I am confident they will be able to lead us in the renovation of our fifthly plus year old church. Thank you for your generosity to St Hyacinth. One of our parish goals in 2021 is to increase the number of families supporting St Hyacinth using Faith Direct. Currently we have 211 families using Faith Direct and hopefully by the end of the year we can have at least 325 families of STHY on Faith Direct. The number of 325 families represents 20% of our parish population of registered parishioners. You can register in less than five minutes by logging on to www.faithdirect.net and entering our parish code of TX526 or by just simply scanning the QR code found on the poster in the Narthex.
This year we will celebrate the 56th anniversary of the founding of St Hyacinth. For this year’s celebration, the weekend of August 21st and 22nd there will be a weekend of prayer, remembrance, and celebration. There will be giveaways, and fun throughout the weekend culminating with the long-anticipated raffle of wonderful prizes. Soo, please mark your calendars for this wonderful event of homecoming and celebration as we return to the Church. Please take this time of preparation to invite any of our past parishioners and families who have moved to come and celebrate the anniversary and life of our STHY.