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August 23, 2016Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is hard for me to adequately say what a blessing it is to be the pastor of such an amazing parish. I am always impressed with your love for the Lord, your love for each other, and your service for God’s Kingdom. As your pastor for the last four years, God expects me to lead us to where we can best accomplish our mission. God teaches us to live and to give faithfully. We are all called to be in prayer of what our part is. God teaches us to give faithfully to God’s church and work. This is the meaning of stewardship. God has entrusted you all with his Church, and I am trusting God that He will speak to each of you and that you will follow where he is leading you.
The 2016-2017 stewardship Campaign has started and the theme this year is “Building Faith Family and Future in Action”. As we begin our exciting campaign it is important to keep our ministries at STHY strong and vital. Your generosity allows STHY to continue to transform lives. Thank You.
STHY is a Stewardship Parish. This means that as a parish community we are striving to embrace stewardship as a way of life. Stewardship is the recognition that all we are and possess are gifts from God. It reminds us to keep God first in all aspects of our lives.
As the U.S. bishops remind us in their pastoral letter, “Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response,” we are obligated by God’s generosity to “receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.”
To be a stewardship parish means to be a parish that reflects the Catholic Church in the first century. The description in the Acts of the Apostles of the early faith community is the blueprint for what it means to be a stewardship parish:
“The group of believers was one in mind and heart. No one said that any of their belongings was their own, but they all shared with one another everything they had.” (Acts 4:32).
A stewardship parish is simply a parish made up of believers who recognize that they own nothing, that they are simply caretakers, stewards of all God has entrusted to them.
At St. Hyacinth, we invite you to:
† Pray. Prayer is the beginning of stewardship. Only when we spend time with God in prayer are we spiritually prepared to offer ourselves in service to others. In prayer we come to grow in our love for Christ and in our desire to reflect Him more beautifully.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock…” Revelations 3:20
† Act. Just do it. Knowing what your talents are and what time you are able to give is important. Review the many ministries in our parish ministry fair and choose a ministry to get involved with or recommit to this year.
“It is in giving that we receive”. St. Francis of Assisi
† Give. In thanksgiving for the many gifts God has given you, please make an effort to support financially the many good works that St. Hyacinth Parish offers.
“A person whose hands are full of parcels cannot receive a gift.” C.S. Lewis
For our 2016 stewardship campaign we will have three principal goals of stewardship. The first Goal for our parish community is to recruit more volunteers for our various Parish Liturgical Ministries which include: Music ministry, Choir, Cantors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Readers, Altar Servers, Hospitality Ministers, Acolytes, Linen Ministry, and Ushers.
The second principal goal is to increase the number of people that are contributing to the Church to Faith Direct, our electronic giving platform. We have over 889 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 Faith Direct. The Church spends close to $10,000 a year to print and mail our parish offertory envelopes. The easiest way for us to significantly reduce these printing expenses is to sign up as many people to Faith Direct. Enrollment forms are available in the Narthex, Church office or you can visit Faith Direct’s secure website at www.faithdirect.net to enroll on line. Our parish code is TX526. As always, know that your generosity is truly a gift from God.
Finally, our third goal is to ask every parish family to make a sacrificial gift to the capital campaign. Although every bit helps, we need three-year pledges in the thousands, not the hundreds. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically equip the mission of STHY and to leave a lasting legacy to the next generation. As we celebrate our 51 st anniversary consider how we can be a blessing to the next generation.
In the next few weeks, we ask you to reflect on our commitment to be good stewards of our time, talents and treasure. “Building Faith, Family and Future in Action” means more than what God has done for you, but what you can do for your love of the Church.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels