Thirty - Second Week of Ordinary Time - St Hyacinth Catholic Church

November 3, 2020

by Fr. Reginald Samuels

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Be Prepared! Jesus is calling us through the scriptures this week to be prepared. Although we cannot prepare for contingency in life, thinking ahead, and being alert to persons and events around us helps us to meet head on whatever comes our way. Jesus tells us all that need to prepare ourselves for the Second coming of Jesus and our return to the Father. We don’t know when Christ will come again, and so Christians living requires that we act each day as if this were the day in which Jesus will invite us to the eternal feast.

This weekend, we will honor our Veterans from all the military branches at each of to the Masses with a special blessing. Thank you for your service to our country.

This holiday season will present many ways in which our community can show its generosity. The Christmas season and the time for giving are just around the corner. The 2020 STHY Christmas 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.

Unfortunately this year due to Church COVID -19 guidelines we will not be able to place the STHY Angel tree in the narthex of the Church; however, the 2020 Angel Tree project will continue in a new way with the gift of gift cards. We are asking everyone to donate gift cards in the amount of $20 - $40 this year. (Cash Cannot Be Accepted). Beginning next weekend, please drop off Gift Cards ONLY in our special clear collection boxes at the back of the Church and in the Narthex marked Gift Cards for Angel Tree. Thanks to the coordinator of the Angel Tree project, Sue Boyle, our parish will have the great opportunity to give these gift cards to the less fortunate of our community.

For the Month of November, The Book of the Names of the Dead will be in the Baptistery area of the Church for those who want to write the names of deceased loved ones whom we can pray for. One of the most beautiful responsibilities we have as Catholics is to pray for our dead. Through prayer, fasting and good works we offer on behalf of the deceased, we pray that God’s purification will be granted to all of the faithful departed so that they can obtain their soul’s desire, eternal life in heaven. In communion with the faithful departed as members of the Church, it is our responsibility and privilege to assist them with our prayers and holy works.

Next, I need to address the approximately the over 1044 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. 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.

Finally, FORMED is the revolutionary digital online platform that gives STHY unprecedented access to video-based study programs, feature films, audio presentations, and eBooks from the Church’s foremost presenters. With your free access to FORMED, 24/7 on your television, smart phone, laptop, I-pad, or Kindle, you can: Prepare for Mass, study the scriptures, watch religious movies and programs as a family, Enrich your marriage with the award winning video programs, and help your children grow in faith and character with engaging children’s materials. Our parish Password to FORMED.org is 77GVZ3.

God Bless
Fr. Reginald Samuels