To love as God “commands” and Jesus teachers requires a spirit of humility and peace. We have to realize that we are all sons and daughters of God who are called to use the gifts we have to build the kingdom of God. God invites us to participate in the work of creation by embracing God’s spirit of Love. In this weekend’s Gospel message, Jesus clearly expresses that Love is the center of the kingdom of God.
I want to thank everyone for a phenomenal Trunk or Treat 2018. It was a wonderful event for our young people in the parish. Special thanks to Mrs. Pamela Johnson, our Director of Faith Formation, Mrs. Christina Reilly the Faith Formation Executive assistant, Steven Sotelo the Coordinator of Youth Ministry, the Knights of Columbus and all the adult volunteers and young people from our Youth Ministry team who made Trunk or Treat Special, thank you all.
Next, I want to say a special thank you to the entire STHY parish family and especially to the young people who put together a wonderful Priesthood Sunday celebration. The posters for Priesthood Sunday are wonderful!! You all are a blessing to me.
Next, I want to thank everyone for their planning and participation in our annual Luminaria Mass. Special thanks to Mrs. Pamella Pitman, our Director of Liturgy and Music, for making All Souls Day a special day to celebrate our love ones who have passed. Thank you.
The Christmas season and the time for giving are just around the corner. The 2018 STHY 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.
Next weekend, November 10th and 11th we will honor our Veterans from all the military branches at each of to the Masses. Thank you for your service to our country.
I send out my sincere thanks to all who made a pledge for our Building Faith, Family and Future Capital Campaign. I truly appreciate your generosity and support. Please consider making a year-end pledge. Envelopes are in the Narthex along with our collection box specifically designed for our Capital campaign or you can do so online through the parish website. Now is the time for giving, and we can all do our part, pledge. Thank you for doing your part to help us reach our goal.
There will be several capital repair and improvement projects that are currently on the schedule at STHY. First, we have are the repairing and replacing several of the Center Street parking lot light fixtures at a cost of $3500. Next, we have to install a new control panel for the Church HVAC system at a cost of $8006. Next, we have to replace the lighting fixtures (all 19) in the main Church (back of church and narthex) due to electrical shorting and arcing. The cost of the repair is estimated to be $4000. (We had this problem 5 years ago with the lighting above the altar and we replaced all of the lighting with LED lighting.)
Over the next few months our attention will be focused on the making the necessary continued repairs on the Center Street Parking lot. We are currently working on accepting bids from contractors. The Center Street parking lot is overdue to be repainted and sealed. There has already been extensive repairs made to Center Street parking lot over the last few months; moreover, now we have to make sure that there is no more continued damage to the parking lot due to use and weather. Most likely this project will not be completed until summer 2019 Thank you for your generosity to our Capital Improvement fund.
For 2018, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $84,000. We are currently $13,128 below goal for 2018. DSF supports more than 60 ministries that serve the faithful of the Archdiocese and us here at St. Hyacinth. From 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. It’s truly our baptism calling for generosity when we are all called to be “Instruments of Mercy.” Thank you for your generosity toward DSF.