Thanks to those who read prayerfully and carefully the following reminder and challenge from Deacon Royce, our Evangelization Director. Note that the prayer at the end of his bulletin contribution will soon be prayed in our parish in place of our vocation prayer on many Sundays. My article follows Deacons Royce’s.
Dear Crescent Parishioners,
As the Crescent Family of Parishes, change is now a part of our everyday lives. Throughout the Beacons of Light process parishioners, parish leaders and the pastoral leadership team have been praying for God to guide us on this journey. Some of these changes we’ve faced have been gradual, some have come unexpectedly, and still, there is so much more for us to do. We ask that Jesus help open our hearts and minds to remain hopeful and that, through the Holy Spirit, God will provide us opportunities for new beginnings. These new beginnings are girded with the strength of knowing that God has always made a way for those who have faith in God’s providence.
In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, it is written, “They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
The Word of God is filled with stories of how the people of God have relied on Him to guide and protect them along the journey toward holiness. So, as we continue our journey of change and transition, we encourage every member and supporter of our Crescent Family of Parishes to be intentional in joining us to ask God, by the power of the Holy Spirit to unfold for us a plan to become one in unity and spirit.
Therefore, through faith and prayer, we ask that everyone:
Pray in a conscious and dedicated way each day for the Spirit of God to lead us into our future.
Practice being grateful for what God has already accomplished through us, in us, and for us.
Acknowledge that there are elements of endings and beginnings that we cannot control.
Remain optimistic and hopeful for what is yet to come.
Believe in the reality that God will “make all things new.”
Let us pray, O God of Love, you have not abandoned your people in the times of transition and change that Beacons of Light brings. As we enter this new season of life with excitement and anxiety, we recall the grace of your deep compassion and abounding love. We thank you, O God for guiding us through the hills, mountains, and rough places that have challenged us to remain faithful. Let us this day acknowledge our need for the light of Jesus to shine upon us ever more brightly so that we never forget your everlasting love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Deacon Royce
Immigrants Inching I made a couple of mistakes, and I want to apologize. My mistakes relate to our Spanish-speaking ministry in Crescent Parishes.
It is a great joy for me to minister to our Latino brothers and sisters found mainly at Holy Trinity. To this point, because our Mass in Spanish is at the same time as our other Sunday Masses, I have only presided in Spanish at some special evening Masses, two funerals and three weddings. In addition, every two weeks I spend two hours on Saturday evenings celebrating confessions in Spanish, which are far, far more confessions than I hear in English. Our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters are inspiringly devout and the age range for those confessions includes the very young to very old and everybody in between!
My mistake regarding our Spanish-speaking ministry is that I failed to make certain that sacraments celebrated in Spanish were properly represented in the State of our Parishes report. They were not and the Parish Leadership Team is working to correct those numbers. It is interesting to note that in most cases, those numbers are much higher than in any of our other parishes.
Generally speaking, our leaders and parishioners alike can “up our game” regarding our awareness of and ministry to our Latino community. For example, when it came to offering names for our new parish, while the Holy Trinity Pastoral Council advocated for them, by suggesting “Our Lady of Guadalupe” as a possible name for our new parish the Spanish-speaking community was overlooked. I bear responsibility for that mistake too and I am sorry. Therefore, as pastor, I promise the Latino community in our parishes that I and we will do better!
We are certainly already trying to do better too. We now have Mass in Spanish every Sunday. Lucas and Maria Lopez, two prominent leaders for the Latino community who, for example, help me to prepare Spanish-speaking couples for marriage, will be taking a more prominent place at the table of leadership in Crescent Parishes. We recently introduced our Stewardship of Talent program, inviting all to contribute to our collective growth in service and faith. Additionally, we have been enhancing our welcome and hospitality by providing resources and gifts in Spanish, such as faith formation books, Lenten card sets, and Holy Water bottles, which we shared this past Easter.
Thanks to Crescent parishioners who have attended a Mass in Spanish at 11 AM on Sunday or the Saturday evening praise and worship from 7-9 PM. Please pray for our Spanish-speaking parishioners who like our ancestors are immigrants inching their way to holiness and a better life for themselves and their descendants.
Relief for Victims of Hurricane Helene The archdiocese will not be holding a special collection for the benefit of victims of Hurricane Helene because we already have two special collections in October – Respect Life Fund (Oct. 5-6) and World Mission Day (Oct. 19-20). Parishioners interested in donating to Hurricane Helene relief efforts may do so directly to Catholic Charities USA at catholiccharitiesusa.org/. Catholic Charities’ press release can be found here: bit.ly/HHeleneRelief. It notes that “One hundred percent of all donations will be allocated to local Catholic Charities agencies, which will provide critical relief – including shelter, food and other humanitarian aid – to members of their communities."