AND NOW A WORD FROM YOUR PASTOR …
When you receive this bulletin, 2024 will be dawning or will have already dawned. I’m looking forward to this New Year and excited about the many possibilities we will have to continue being a shining light of faith not only in our area but for the Archdiocese. I wake up thankful every morning for being the shepherd of such a great group of Christians who enjoy each other’s company and work so well together. On New Year’s Day, I have a special feeling of being blessed to begin another year with such a great group.
This is going to be our last in-house published monthly bulletin. No, we’re not going to a weekly bulletin. I consider that a waste of paper. Same stuff every week. As the years have gone by, the time and cost of putting together and printing the bulletin has become an issue we have had to address. We’ll still have our monthly bulletin with all the activities and events (though some announcements tend to be overly wordy and repetitive). But we’ve discovered a Catholic company that has entered the market of helping parishes communicate with parishioners and even the possibility of reaching out to Catholics new to the community or a bit laxed in practicing.
The company is called Decided Excellence Catholic Media. One of our parishioners is a representative of the company and has alerted us to its existence and how it can be a solution to still providing our monthly bulletin with less time, effort, and cost. The bulletin itself will be more of a magazine-like format, mailed directly to your home. It will also contain many features that we just can’t include in our present format: faith formation articles, puzzles for kids/adults, and more. We are also soliciting local businesses to help sponsor some of the cost. Your support of those businesses will be important in letting them know we support them and appreciate their support.
I am excited and looking forward to the first issue in February. This new endeavor will put a bit of a pressure on me to get my article in on the hard deadline the company must have to get the magazine out on time. That will go for all who need anything in that month.
This is just one change that’s coming in 2024. What more the Lord has in store for the rest of this New Year we look to with trust and confidence in His will. Through Him, all good things come. It will be a great 2024!!!
We’re on the verge of a New Year, 2024. Hard to believe another year has flown by. I have been asked several questions lately that I’ll try to answer now so as to start the New Year with a clean slate.
Recently the question has been asked, “What’s happened to the expansion of the Family Life Center? Has it been put on hold?”
The expansion plans for the Family Life Center have been presented to the Building Commission of the Archdiocese and they have been approved. The architect’s rendering has been on display in both entrances of St. Mary’s and recently moved to be on display at St. Joseph. The working plans have taken longer than expected and, after several delays of being reviewed by the Archdiocesan Building Committee, we will be able to begin the addition. However, because we are so close to the Christmas Season, I personally don’t want anything to begin until after the New Year. All we need for our Christmas and New Year’s Masses is to have a construction site being set up and our parking flow disrupted. We have been assured that the construction site will not hinder the use of the existing building and we will be able to access the parking area on the north side of the FLC. I don’t want to take the chance that a glitch happens that would ripple into all kinds of problems. I guess the key to the situation now is just to have patience while we await the presentation of the final working plans and the contractors’ bids as to the actual cost of the project. We are doing our best to speed up the process or at least get an idea of when we might be able to start. We’re not alone with delays. It seems to be the nature of things these days.
I’ve also been asked about how we’re planning to handle the tight schedule of Christmas Masses this year. Christmas falls on the worst possible day this year, a Monday. This means Christmas Eve is on Sunday afternoon/evening. How are we going to handle Sunday as Sunday and Sunday as Christmas Eve?
Sunday is still the Lord’s Day, the day we always gather and hold sacred as a Christian Community. Our Sunday obligation to gather is not abrogated (repealed, revoked, rescinded, or withdrawn).
So, keeping our Sunday Celebration is definitely important and necessary. However, our weekend schedule will be a bit simplified: Saturday Vigil 5pm at St. Mary; 7am St Mary; 7:30am St.
Joseph; 8:30am & 10am St. Mary. There will not be an 11:30am at St. Marv on Sunday morning. In addition, in an effort to highlight the Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord (Christmas), our Sunday Masses will be simplified…without music. The homily will also be brief, highlighting and leading to the Solemnity we’ll be celebrating in a few hours at the Christmas Eve Masses and Christmas Day. The Christmas Eve Masses will be celebrated as usual, with a minor exception. The schedule is as follows: 3pm SM in Church (traditional), 3:15pm SM in Hall (w/ Fr. Ed and the kids’ horns); 5pm SM in Church (traditional). We have discontinued the 5:15 SM in Hall because of the low number attending which we feel can be fed into the main church at 5pm; 7pm SJ in Church. Christmas Morning (Monday): 10:30am SM.
Reading it this way may be a bit confusing. You’ll find the Sunday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day schedules elsewhere in this bulletin, easier to post on your fridge. I wanted to explain the rationale of how we had to think outside the box to fit all these important celebrations into three days.
New Year’s celebrations (the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God) aren’t so complicated. We’ll have the regular Sunday Morning schedule with the addition of the Vigil of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (New Year’s Eve) At 4pm SM and Monday morning at 10:30am at SM.
We’re going to see a lot of each other during these tightly packed days of celebrating and feasting. Just giving a heads-up: Christmas next year, 2024, is on a Wednesday. We’ll have Monday to rest before Christmas Eve, Tuesday! I’m looking forward to the challenge and celebrating all of this with you this year. Say a prayer we all hold up.
AND NOW A WORD FROM YOUR PASTOR …
St. Mary’s Bazaar is fast approaching. Both of our Communities’ bazaars are highlights of the year and opportunities of our witnessing to the unity of the Church and the unity of our churches, supporting each other’s efforts.
As St. Mary’s Bazaar is looming on the horizon, I think it’s important to reflect on the distinction St. Mary has as a painted church in our Archdiocese and an example of what a rural parish can accomplish.
Of all the Catholic painted churches of Texas [and there are quite a number, particularly around the Schulenburg area and the few in our Archdiocese] St. Mary’s has the distinction of being the fastest growing and the most active. We have now at this writing 1350+ parishioners, a plethora of active ministries, a score of activities for all age groups and 47 acres for expansion in anticipation of the imminent tsunami of growth heading our way. [With the 10+ original acres, we now sit on 57+ acres, half the size of the Vatican.. .lol…]. Throughout the Archdiocese, St. Mary has the reputation of being one of the friendliest and welcoming parishes, with a lively Sunday celebration.
St. Mary’s Bazaar has also grown through the years. From its beginning with the first church picnics, then homecomings and now the social event of the season of Grimes and Montgomery Counties, the bazaar has been the vehicle of bringing together the members of the parish to work shoulder-to-shoulder for a common goal. When the parish was first founded by the nearby families, everyone knew each other and were probably related…ha. As time has zoomed to the present 1350+ parishioners, that is just not the case. Our fellowship in the hall after the Sunday Masses has been a great catalyst to bringing us together around the hospitality of food. Yet it’s difficult to experience the whole parish. There’s a 5pm crowd, a 7am crowd, an 8:30am crowd, a 10am crowd and an 11:30am crowd. In addition, there are always new faces in each crowd. How to integrate each segment into the whole has always been challenging. I have discovered through the years that the Bazaar is the primary opportunity even for me, the Pastor, to personally interact with the whole parish. I see faces, recognize faces, acknowledge faces but during the Bazaar we work together planning, setting up and working the day together.
If you’ve been around a while but haven’t participated in the Bazaar or are a newcomer to the parish, volunteering in any of the many aspects of the Bazaar is the best way to get connected and know your fellow parishioners. Think about it…pray over it. Yeah, September Labor Day is usually warm if not downright hot. Yep, a lot of sacrifice and sweat is what family life is all about and we’re family. There’s a way to look up and sign up online for the different areas of Bazaar activity or sign-up at Bazaar Central on Sundays prior to Bazaar or just call the office and we’ll joyfully find the perfect place for you. I’m hoping all you old-timers and newcomers, young and not-so-young, experienced, and inexperienced are reading this and making recommitment or committing to making this Bazaar the best ever. I’m going to be there sweating with you. One of my mentors, Elaine Rendler, who is a renowned liturgist, composer, musician etc., said to us priests at a NPM convention: “Father, don’t ask me to do what you aren’t doing or willing to do.” I’m in the planning, will be there setting up and working the crowd during the day right there with you.
Heads Up!
Young Married Couples … 21 to 49
Ever thought about how nice it would be to have a social group for young married couples practicing their Catholic faith for fun, fellowship, spiritual growth and support the beauty of Catholic family life? One is being formed.
More to come in next month’s bulletin! Till then, we’re all focusing on Bazaar, Bazaar, Bazaar!!