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September 12, 2023Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The St. Hyacinth mission statement says:
Saint Hyacinth is a Catholic Community bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are nourished by his sacraments, committed to the service of one another by living and teaching gospel values. Our journey in faith and love calls us to walk with others through service and prayer. We will continue the mission of Jesus Christ to bring about the kingdom of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit using the gifts of time, talent and treasure. And thus, through the example of our patron, St. Hyacinth, we will serve Christ and his Church.
This weekend we will be given the opportunity to be a witness to the mission statement of our parish. The annual ministry fair will be in Guyot Hall. This ministry fair presents a great opportunity for all of us to consider how we are called to live out the mission statement of our parish. Everyone is called to share their gifts of time talent and treasure. Now is the time to share your gifts with the parish and community.
The gospel passage this week is related to the previous verses that deal with conflict resolution and reconciliation in the church. The Gospel of Matthew this week tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. It is about the importance of forgiving others as God has forgiven us. It also warns about the consequences of being unmerciful.
The passage begins with Peter’s question about how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him. He suggests seven times, which seems generous, but Jesus says seventy-seven times This does not mean that there is a literal limit to forgiveness, but that forgiveness should be unlimited and unconditional, just like God’s forgiveness for us.
The point of the parable this Sunday is to illustrate the contrast between God’s grace and human sinfulness, and to challenge us to imitate God’s mercy in our relationships with others. Jesus says that this is how God will treat us if we do not forgive our brothers and sisters from our hearts. Jesus implies that our forgiveness from God is conditional on our forgiveness of others.
One of our parish goals in 2023 is to increase the number of families supporting St Hyacinth using Faith Direct and online giving. Currently we have only 208 families using Faith Direct. You can register in less than five minutes signing up for online giving at https://sthyacinth.org/online-giving.
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 $20,000 for the restoration of the stain glass window project. Thank you for your generosity.
Finally, 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 here from one of the many archdiocese ministries in which DSF supports.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels
