As promised, here is the low-down on our ‘gift from God’: Fr. Al[bert] Walsh.

Fr. Al was born in County Limerick, Ireland, the fifth of ten children [How very Catholic] on August 4, 1929. [We’ll have to have a Birthday Blessing at Masses that weekend]. His father and mother ran a general store in a small country village. Both his parents attended daily Mass and received Holy Communion. From a very early age he wanted to be a priest. He worked in the family business for a short time after finishing school. He then approached Fr. Joe O’Sullivan [with whom I was stationed in Baytown at St. Joseph in 1977, I think] about studying for the Galveston-Houston diocese. He was accepted and started studying in 1949. After completing philosophy in Ireland, he was sent to Louvain, Belgium. He began to have doubts toward the end of his second year of theology and took time out to think about his vocation. He returned to the seminary in Houston in the Fall of 1957, but withdrew again in December 1959. After he had been out of the seminary for a while, he came to the conclusion that he had given the calling to the priesthood a fair chance and in 1961 decided to answer the call to the vocation of marriage and raise a family.

AN ADDITIONAL

MASS

AT ST. MARY !

  7:45 AM

Beginning Sunday, August 6th  

It has been the need at St. Mary to schedule an additional Mass to help reduce the overcrowding of the 9am. It is anticipated that alleviating the crowding of the 9am will result in helping the crowding of the 10:30am Mass also. This has been impossible until the arrival of Fr. Al, who is an answer to our prayer.

The Mass at St. Joseph will remain at 7:30am. This has been the traditional time of the Sunday Celebration and the wish of a majority at the last poll taken a year or so ago. Regardless, the time of 7:30am is important to allow parishioners of St. Joseph to go to St. Mary's early Mass should a priest get sick or be unavailable. This circumstance will hopefully be very rare and is cited only as a ‘what if' scenario. Should a priest be unable to celebrate the Eucharist, a Communion Service will be provided for those parishioners who wish to celebrate at St. Joseph on those rare Sundays. Others may wish to go to St. Mary for Mass.

The newly Scheduled 7:45am Mass at St. Mary will begin August 6th. Of course this entails the variety of ministries necessary for every Mass. Please consider sharing in these ministries: sacristan, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, lector, cantor/music, greeter, etc.

The time of 7:45am is not set in stone. We will need some experience to determine what works best and is most effective to meet our need.

Hint: the 7:45 am homily may have to be somewhat brief.

Help Save a Life and Have a
Great Breakfast

St. Mary's Men's Club is sponsoring a

Blood Drive and Breakfast

August 13th from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Free Breakfast for Donors

Call the Parish Office to sign up (936-894-2223)

he Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center needs our support

R.E. MONTHLY NEWS BUZZ

Gosh, how the summer has passed. Hope your summer was a great one. Now we have only a few weeks left and school will start. Parents, children, and teachers will be hurrying around getting ready for school. Here at the RE office, we been working hard getting ready for the new school year. My staff and I are working on organizing the new RE school year. We are planning an awesome RE Program along with a few new guidelines. Our team is looking forward to working with the students and parents.

St. Mary's Catholic Church

Plantersville , Texas

Bazaar Date: September 3, 2006

Message from the 2006 Bazaar Raffle Committee

Below is a list of businesses and parishioners who gave to make the Raffle prizes possible.

We would like to thank the contributors for their generous donations.

Stop by and show your appreciation by using their services.

INGREDIENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL
BAZAAR

535 Families
+
Each doing their part
=
AN EASY BAZAAR 2006

Necessary Ingredients:

The Hall foyer is open 24 hours for midnight delivery. Tag your item for its specific booth. Tables will be designated in the Hall to hold your items. If you need any assistance with unloading items, call ahead 936/894-2223. Friends of St. Mary’s who live at a distance are encouraged to send items via relatives, US Mail or UPS. Shipping address: 8227 CR 205, Plantersville, TX 77363.

Please join us for a HOMESCHOOL BLESSING MASS. This will be on Wednesday, August 16th at 9:00 a.m. at St. Mary's. We will follow this with fellowship in the Hall. Please bring a snack to share and meet other home schooling families in the parish. Questions? Contact Wanda O'Brien at 597-6328

To volunteer for this most worthwhile project, contact Wanda O’Brien at
936-597-6328 or by email at tjobrien911@hughes.net

St. Mary’s Choir has begun preparation of Advent and Christmas music this month. If you have been meaning to join the choir but just haven’t gotten around to it, now’s the time!

Some special musical events coming up include a Taize prayer service in Remembrance of the Dead on Sunday, November 12; “Praise at the Pavilion,” an ecumenical singing convention under our own outdoor pavilion on Sunday, October 15, from 3-5 p.m. (lots of singing and instrumental groups from many area churches, followed by a covered dish dinner in the Hall. All are welcome!); festival of ministries in September.

Join us at choir practice on Wednesdays at 7pm in the Church, and raise your voices in God’s praise.

Jubilate Deo!

Liturgical Readings for August 2006

Aug 1 St. Alphonsus Liguori: Jer 14:17-22 * Ps 79:8-9,11,13 * Mt 13:36-43

Aug 2 [Sts. Eusebius of Vercelli , Peter Julian Eymard] : Jer 15:10,16-21 * Ps 59:2-4,10-11,17,18 * Mt 13:44-46

Aug 3: Jer 18:1-6 * Ps 146:1-6 * Mt 13:47-53

Aug 4 St. John Mary Vianney: Jer 26:1-9 * Ps 69:5,8-10,14 * Mt 13:54-58

Aug 5 [The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major; BVM] :Jer 26:11-16,24 * Ps 69:15-16,30-31,33-34 * Mt 14:1-12

The Transfiguration of the Lord, Sun, Aug 6: Dn 7:9-10,13-14 * Ps 97:1-2,5-6,9 * 2 Pt 1:16-19 * Mk 9:2-10

Aug 7 [St. Sixtus II & Companions, St. Cajetan] : Jer 28:1-17 * Ps 119:29,43,79-80,95,102 * Mt 14:13-21

Aug 8 St. Dominic: Jer 30:1-2,12-15,18-22 * Ps 102:16-18,19-21,29,22-23 * Mt 14:22-36

Aug 9 [St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross] : Jer 31:1-7 * Jer 31:10-13 * Mt 15:21-28

Aug 10 St. Lawrence: 2 Cor 9:6-10 * Ps 112:1-2,5-9 * Jn 12:24-26

Aug 11 St. Clare: Na 2:1,3; 3:1-3,6-7 * Dt 32:35-36,39,41 * Mt 16:24-28

Aug 12 [BVM] : Hb 1:12—2:4 * Ps 9:8-13 * Mt 17:14-20

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug 13: 1 Kgs 19:4-8 * Ps 34:2-9 * Eph 4:30—5:2 * Jn 6:41-51

Aug 14 St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe: Ez 1:2-5,24-28 * Ps 148:1-2,11-14 * Mt 17:22-27

Aug 15 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Rv 11:19; 12:1-6,10 * Ps 45:10-12,16 * 1 Cor 15:20-27 * Lk 1:39-56

Aug 16 [St. Stephen of Hungary ] : Ez 9:1-7; 10:18-22 * Ps 113:1-6 * Mt 18:15-20

Aug 17: Ez 12:1-12 * Ps 78:56-59,61-62 * Mt 18:21—19:1

Aug 18 [ St. Jane Frances de Chantal] : Ez 16:1-15,60,63 * Is 12:2-6 * Mt 19:3-12

Aug 19 [St. John Eudes] : Ez 18:1-10,13,30-32 * Ps 51:12-15,18-19 * Mt 19:13-15

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug 20: Prv 9:1-6 * Ps 34:2-7 * Eph 5:15-20 * Jn 6:51-58

Aug 21 St. Pius X: Ez 24:15-24 * Dt 32:18-21 * Mt 19:16-22

Aug 22 The Queenship of Mary: Ez 28:1-10 * Dt 32:26-28,30,35-36 * Mt 19:23-30

Aug 23 [St. Rose of Lima ] : Ez 34:1-11 * Ps 23:1-6 * Mt 20:1-16

Aug 24 St. Bartholomew: Rv 21:9-14 * Ps 145:10-13,17-18 * Jn 1:45-51

Aug 25 [ Sts. Louis, Joseph Calasanz] : Ez 37:1-14 * Ps 107:2-9 * Mt 22:34-40

Aug 26 [BVM] : Ez 43:1-7 * Ps 85:9-14 * Mt 23:1-12

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug 27: Jos 24:1-2,15-18 * Ps 34:2-3,16-21 * Eph 5:21-32 * Jn 6:60-69

Aug 28 St. Augustine : 2 Thes 1:1-5,11-12 * Ps 96:1-5 * Mt 23:13-22

Aug 29 The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist: 2 Thes 2:1-3,14-17 * Ps 96:10-13 * Mk 6:17-29

Aug 30: 2 Thes 3:6-10,16-18 * Ps 128:1-2,4-5 * Mt 23:27-32

Aug 31: 1 Cor 1:1-9 * Ps 145:2-7 * Mt 24:42-51

St. Mary's Mass Intentions for August 2006  

St. Joseph's Mass Intentions for August 2006