Twenty - Fifth Week In Ordinary Time - St Hyacinth Catholic Church

September 19, 2023

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The Parable of the Landowner from the Gospel of Matthew this week demonstrates to us the abundance of God's grace and mercy. Furthermore, there are several takeaways in which we can glean from the parable.
First, the parable shows that God is the sovereign owner of his vineyard, which represents his kingdom. He has the right to hire and reward workers as he pleases, according to his generosity and not according to merit or expectation on our part.
Next, the parable also shows that God gives the same reward of eternal life to all who believe in him, regardless of when they enter his kingdom or how much they have done for him. God's generosity challenges our sense of justice and fairness and exposes our tendency to be envious and resentful of others who receive God’s grace.
Moreover, the parable shows that God’s grace is abundant. God does not withhold his grace from anyone who is willing to work for him, even at the last hour. He invites everyone to join his kingdom and share in his joy.
Finally, the parable shows that God’s grace is a gift, and that grace cannot be earned. We cannot earn or deserve God’s grace by our works, but we can only receive grace by faith and gratitude. We should not compare ourselves with others or boast about our achievements, but we should humbly acknowledge our dependence on God and rejoice in his generosity.
One of the principal goals of 2023 is to increase the number of people that are contributing to the Church through our electronic giving platform. We have over 1000 registered families here at STHY that maybe giving to our parish in the Sunday collection; however, we don’t have a record of them using their envelopes or electronic giving. You can enroll for online giving through https://www.sthyacinth.org/online-giving
The month of October is Respect Life Month with October 1^st being Respect for Life Sunday. For Respect Life Sunday, we will witness the horrors of abortion on Center Street. Those that are interested are called to meet in Guyot Hall immediately after the noon Mass and then gather on Center Street to stand silently from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm.
In celebration of our parish 58th anniversary, this year’s parish project, the entire community of St Hyacinth is being asked to provide support for the renovation and restoration of the two main stain glass windows of the Church. To support this project, please go to https://sthyacinth.org/stain-glass-renovation-project to donate. We hope to raise $75,000 for the renovation and restoration of our Holy Spirit Window and Christ the Good Shepherd window. As of my writing for the bulletin, we have collected over $22,000 for the restoration of the stain glass window project. Thank you for your generosity.
For 2023, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $85,000. As of the writing for this bulletin we have collected $49,776. Go to: https://www.archgh.org/ways-to-give/diocesan-services-fund-dsf/donate-to-dsf/ and give to DSF 2023. Thank you for your generosity. Since it is stewardship weekend, this weekend, we will hear from one of the many archdiocese ministries which DSF supports.
Finally, this weekend, please welcome Deacon Phillip Jackson to St. Hyacinth. Deacon Jackson is the Director of the Office of the Permanent Deaconate for the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston. The Office of the Permanent Diaconate is responsible for all aspects associated with the formation of deacon candidates and the ongoing formation and coordination of the Archdiocese's permanent diaconate community. This weekend, Deacon Jackson will preach and speak about how DSF supports the Office of the Permanent Deaconate.

God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels