Texas Catholic Herald - Jan. 25, 2022

JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/TCH

A CHAPLAIN’S CHRISTMAS

texas catholic herald

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2022

With a spirit of service and faith, Catholic chaplains bring Jesus and hope to hospitals

School communities prep for annual celebration ▪ SEE PAGE 8

▪ SEE PAGE 6

Proclaiming the Good News to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston since 1964

JANUARY 25, 2022

MINISTRY

Four parishes named Filipino pilgrimage sites

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VOL. 58, NO. 16

‘CONFIRM THEM WITH HIS ABUNDANT GIFTS’

Local jubilee indulgence period runs Jan. 26 to April 26

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald HOUSTON — Catholics around the Archdiocese will have a unique opportunity to join the local Filipino Catholic community in celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines.

Starting on Jan. 26, four parishes in the greater Houston area will be local pilgrimage sites for a special jubilee celebration.

These parishes, the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston, Prince of Peace Catholic Church in northwest Houston, St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Katy and Notre Dame Catholic Church in Alief, continue to See JUBILEE, page 7

EDUCATION

Sponsors, Catholic School students raise funds in Steps for Students

BY JO ANN ZUÑIGA Texas Catholic Herald

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo anoints the head of a confirmation candidate during a celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation at a Mass at St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Cardinal DiNardo, with Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, confirmed nearly 500 Catholics on Jan. 9 at four Masses around the Archdiocese. The Office of Worship and the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, which coordinate the event, are two of 60-plus ministries that benefits from the Diocesan Services Fund. FOR MORE ON ADULT CONFIRMATIONS, SEE PAGE 10.

Archdiocesan family invited to unite ‘All for the Glory of God’ in 2022 DSF appeal

BY KERRY MCGUIRE Herald Correspondent

HOUSTON — Whether a multimilliondollar company sponsoring Catholic education or a student and family registering to run in the Steps for Students 5K this Feb. 12, every bit of support helps tuition and other assistance to improve academics, school officials said.

Almost 4,000 have already registered, with more able to sign up to participate in what is one of the largest annual events for the Archdiocese. The day of the race begins with a 6:30 a.m. Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston.

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will bless the crowd at the starting line before the

HOUSTON — The faithful are encouraged to come together as a unified Archdiocesan family to glorify God and bring forth the presence of Christ to those in need by supporting the 56th annual Diocesan Services Fund (DSF) campaign.

The 2022 DSF appeal, “All for the Glory of God,” will be held in 154 Catholic parishes across 10 counties in 2022 the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, DIOCESAN beginning Feb. 5 and 6.

SERVICES Each gift to DSF benefits more FUND than 60 ministries that provide for the needs of thousands of people within the boundaries of the Archdiocese.

Together, the ministries offer diverse programs and services in the broad areas of teaching, evangelizing and worship; nurturing and strengthening families; promoting, preparing, and supporting the clergy; ministering to the sick, poor, and incarcerated; and special

See STEPS, page 5

See DSF, page 4

THE FIRST WORD † 3

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COLUMNISTS † 13 - 14

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PHOTO BY MICHELLE EISTERHOLD

Father Christian Bui baptizes a young boy during an Easter Vigil Mass at St. Edward Catholic Church in Spring in 2021. The Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization helps form catechetical leaders to teach and inform newly baptized children.

ESPAÑOL † 17 |

MILESTONES † 19

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ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

El Cardenal Daniel DiNardo comparte su columna en línea en español.

Visite www.archgh.org para leer su artículo en línea.

THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON

A Shepherd’s Message

Publishing since 1964 (USPS 936-480) NEWSDESK 713-652-8215 • Fax: 713-659-3444 tch@archgh.org • archgh.org/tch

By Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

“All of us in this blessed movement bring attention to those who are in need, frightened, poor, or discouraged with difficult pregnancies.”

Dear Sisters and Brothers, The recent siege and assault upon a Jewish synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, near Dallas is a very disquieting event; a place of prayer and religious observance was put under attack by an extremist.

We are grateful that violence was kept to a minimum, owing to the training of the rabbi and others there, as well as excellent protection and watchfulness by the local police agencies and the FBI. The attacker was killed while all others escaped.

But this is a traumatic episode and part of a growing list of anti-Semitic events in this country and throughout the world. We want to express and share in the anxiety of the Jewish community and condemn religious intolerance. A place of prayer and worship is to be held as sacred by everyone. Our religious freedom is diminished when these sorrowful incidents are repeated. We continue to work for justice in all realms of our religious life in this country, and we pray that a genuine peace and respect will be cultivated towards all religions and religious expressions.

January 22 this year marks the 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade

decision of the Supreme Court of the United States legalizing abortion on demand in this country. Subsequent years have seen various enactments by states limiting the practice.

Part of this has been accomplished by the rise of the most significant grassroots movement in the United States in recent decades, the Pro-Life movement. Nowadays, at the forefront of this vital activity are thousands of young people who work enthusiastically and creatively to emphasize the gift of human life, to push for a change in laws, and to constantly bring help and assistance for all women in difficult pregnancies to choose life.

I have always been impressed by our teenagers and young adults who proclaim the Gospel of Life and the real effects this Gospel has in the life of the world around us.

The Supreme Court is in the midst of now assessing some very important pro-life legislation at the state level; it may well overturn Roe v. Wade this year.

Whatever its decision, the essential and ongoing work of the pro-life movement continues. It is most significant that all of us in this blessed movement bring attention to those

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who are in need, frightened, poor, or discouraged with difficult pregnancies. Our positive help and imaginative solutions are concrete ways to show many who are skeptical that we can indeed be people who love both mothers and children and want all to thrive.

There are obviously already many groups who are doing this — including our Catholic Charities — but we must constantly show ourselves to be real champions of children, women and families.

Over 25 years ago, St. John Paul II, in his theologically important encyclical Evangelium Vitae, deepened for us and for all the world the profound but readily understood meaning of the human person. He called us to consider anew “the loftiness of this supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and the inestimable value of human life, even in its temporal phase.”

The human person exceeds the dimensions of this earthly existence.

But, that existence is an initial phase of a unified plan of our Creator for our sharing the very life of God. The human person is sacred. We must proclaim and live this truth, this beauty! †

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CIRCULATION tdieli@archgh.org • 713-652-4444 ADVERTISING ads@archgh.org • 713-652-4407 Daniel Cardinal DiNardo Archbishop, President & Publisher Jonah Dycus Communications Director & Executive Editor Rebecca Torrellas Managing Editor James Ramos Designer & Reporter Catherine Viola Graphic Designer & Ad Manager Kerry McGuire and Jo Ann Zuñiga Contributors The Texas Catholic Herald, an awardwinning member of The Catholic Media Association, is published semi-monthly on Tuesdays, with one issue in June, July and August by The Texas Catholic Herald Publishing Co., Inc., 1700 San Jacinto St., Houston, TX 77002.

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JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/TCH

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THE FIRST WORD IN BRIEF

A HABIT OF FAITH

Catholic Charities’ food distributions continues in three locations

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Consecrated women religious greet Daniel Cardinal DiNardo after Mass in the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. On Feb. 6, the Archdiocese will join in celebrating men and women religious for World Day for Consecrated Life.

Mass for World Day for Consecrated Life set for Feb. 6 HOUSTON — The Mass for World Day for Consecrated Life, which is held yearly on Feb. 2, will be celebrated Sunday, Feb. 6, 11 a.m. at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, located at 1111 St. Joseph Pkwy. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will be the celebrant.

The public is invited to join vowed religious at this Liturgy to pray for all those who have made commitments in the consecrated life as they publicly renew their commitment.

In 1997, St. John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2. This feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world. So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all people.

The celebration of World Day for Consecrated Life is transferred to the following Sunday in order to highlight the gift of consecrated persons for the whole Church. †

HOUSTON — Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston continues offer food assistance at three food pantries that are open for drive-thru food distribution: Guadalupe Center in Houston; the Mamie George Community Center in Richmond; and the Beacon of Hope Center in Galveston.

In Houston, drive-thru distributions at the Guadalupe Center, located at 326 S. Jensen St. in Houston, were set to resume on Jan. 27 and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. No appointment required.

The Beacon of Hope Center, located at 4700 Broadway, Suite F-103 in Galveston, is a Galveston County super distribution site. Distributions are held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, starting at 9 a.m. No appointment is required. The next distributions are on Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Feb. 23. Call 409-762-2064 for more information.

In Fort Bend, The Mamie George Community Center, located at 1111 Collins Rd. in Richmond, is a Houston Food Bank super distribution site. Register by texting HFBPS to 855-788-3663, then select Catholic Charities — Richmond. In 2022, drive-thru distributions will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 5 to 7 p.m., and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The next food fairs are Jan. 29 and Feb. 26. For assistance, call 281-202-6200.

For hours and addresses, visit www.catholiccharities.org/ food or call the Catholic Charities COVID Assistance Line at 713-874-6521. †

Bishop Rizzotto Golf Classic set for March 7 at Wildcat Golf Club

HOUSTON — The 18th Annual Bishop Rizzotto Memorial Golf Tournament, which supports the retired priests, religious and elders of St. Dominic Village, is set for Thursday, March 3. Registration is at 11 a.m. with shotgun start at 12:30 p.m.

The tournament is at the Wildcat Golf Club, 12000 Almeda Rd., in Houston. All proceeds directly benefit the residents of St. Dominic Village. Price per player is $250.

To register to play or sponsor-a-priest visit www. stdominicvillage.org. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Kimberly Elliott at 713-741-8722 or email kelliott@ stdominicvillage.org. † HELP RESTORE THE MOTHER CHURCH OF TEXAS

Sugar Land parish revives ‘Heart of Worship’ SUGAR LAND — After a five-year hiatus, St. Laurence Catholic Church, located at 3100 Sweetwater Blvd., in Sugar Land is bringing back the “Heart of Worship.”

Set for Saturday, Feb. 12, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., the all-day spiritual event includes national speakers, praise and worship, dinner, Eucharistic Adoration and Mass. This year features Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, who will speak on praying with confidence and the purpose and meaning of Eucharistic Adoration.

Father Drew Wood, pastor of St. Laurence, will lead the first session about relationships and prayer. The program includes music, time to meet others and to explore the suburban parish campus. $30 per person registration, which is open to all sixth grade and older, includes a catered dinner served before praise and worship, Mass and Adoration.

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For 14 years, the parish offered Heart of Worship on a Saturday before the beginning of Lent. Year after year, the event attracted people from all over.

“Heart of Worship is a day like no other,” Father Wood said. “This day will make you think and dream and laugh. It is full of joy and will renew your faith in the Eucharist.

It’s like a pep rally for Catholics. Invite your friends who aren’t Catholic and family DEACON HAROLD members who need to reconnect and remember that they are marvelously and BURKE-SIVERS unconditionally loved by God.” Pre-registration is encouraged, limited registration may be available at the door. Register online at www.stlaurence.org/HOW. †

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ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

DISCIPLES ASSEMBLE! JR. HIGH RALLY RETURNS The Archdiocesan Junior High Youth Rally returns in person on Saturday, Feb. 26. ▪ SEE PAGE 13

Cardinal DiNardo: Together we accomplish much DSF, from page 1 grants and aid to poor parishes.

“Supporting the DSF makes these important 60-plus ministries possible,” said Daniel Cardinal DiNardo. “It is when we come together as the Body of Christ that we can accomplish so much. Your support changes lives and brings the presence of Christ into our communities!”

Three DSF-supported ministries are featured in the 2022 appeal, including San José Clinic, the Family Life Ministry, and the Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YACM).

San José Clinic, which is celebrating its centennial, provides quality healthcare and education to those without insurance and with limited access to such services in an environment that respects the dignity of each person. According to Maureen Sanders, president and CEO of San José Clinic, the ministry’s mission is made possible through the dedicated service of 52 staff members and more than 300 volunteer healthcare providers and other community volunteers from institutions of higher learning, retirees, and church groups and other faith-based and community service organizations.

Est. 2014

PreK 3 - 8th Grade

Nationally Certified STEM Campus 11511 Huffmeister Rd. Houston, TX 77065 ctrschool.com 281-469-8440

“I thank the people of this local Church for extending our Savior’s love to those around them, and I encourage everyone to bring the light of Christ to others through their participation in the DSF.” DANIEL CARDINAL DINARDO

ARCHBISHOP OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON

Sanders said a wide range of medical services are provided that encompass primary medical care, 15 different specialties (gynecology, cardiology, and neurology), dental care, eye care, pharmaceuticals, mental health, diagnostic services, disease state management, physical therapy, and counseling.

Sanders said the DSF funding is critical to San José Clinic’s operating budget.

“As Texas continues to lead the nation in uninsured residents, DSF funding is critical to our clinic’s mission,” said Sanders. “Every day, we work to ensure that these residents in our community can receive the care that they need. In turn, many of these patients are able to continue their important essential work in industries like agriculture, hospitality and construction, allowing them to support their families and improve our overall community.”

The second featured DSF-supported ministry, the Family Life Ministry, is part of the Archdiocesan Pastoral and Educational Ministries and provides more than 50 programs in the following areas: discernment of marriage, marriage preparation, couple enrichment, parenting education, ongoing support and assistance with transitions, and many other programs and services.

Whether in direct service or education, these ministries require critical funding to remain in operation. Out of each gift given to DSF, 100% of every dollar goes directly to supporting these ministries.

According to Ricardo Medina, director of the Family Life Ministry, the main focus is to provide families with creative and effective responses, strategies, and goals to help create a better society and

PROMOTING, PREPARING AND SUPPORTING THE CLERGY

The many ministries supported by the Diocesan Services Fund include: TEACHING, EVANGELIZING AND WORSHIP Apostleship of the Sea Catholic Schools Office Chapels (Holy Cross and Warren) Communications Office Ecumenism Commission Office of Evangelization and Catechesis Office of Worship Pastoral and Educational Ministry

MINISTERING TO THE POOR, THE SICK AND THE INCARCERATED

Angela House Catholic Chaplain Corps Catholic Charities Correctional Ministries Foreign Missions Office of Justice & Peace/Catholic Campaign for Human Development Our Daily Bread San José Clinic St. Dominic Center for the Deaf

world by strengthening marriages and family units.

Medina encourages all clergy, parish staff, parents, couples and young adults in the Archdiocese to“consider the Family Life Ministry as their partner in this beautiful journey of forming, revealing, enjoying and protecting our communities of love present at every home.”

“For better or worse, in sickness and in health, we are called to serve every person in our community as a member of the family of God,” Medina said. “Each day, our ministers search for best options, empower the network of collaborators, develop initiatives for addressing underserved needs, and roll out ministries in collaboration with our parishes, striving to maintain a homogeneous and high-level implementation. This level of specialization is beyond the capabilities of any parish, and it is only possible through the ongoing work of a focused team Archdiocesan-wide.”

DSF-supported Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YACM), which also

Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Priest Retirement Residence Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services Clergy Pastoral Outreach Department of Seminarians Good Leaders, Good Shepherds Ministry to Priests Office of Permanent Diaconate Ministry Office of Vocations for Priesthood & Religious Life

NURTURING AND STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

Aging Ministry Camp Kappe Ethnic Ministries Family Life Ministry Family Retreat Center at Circle Lake Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization Office of Hispanic Ministry Pro-Life Activities Special Youth Services St. Dominic Village Vicar for Judicial Affairs (Metropolitan Tribunal) Young Adult and Campus Ministry

These DSF-supported ministries require this critical funding to remain in operation. 100% of every DSF gift goes directly to these ministries.

To donate and more, visit www.archgh.org/dsf is a part of Pastoral and Educational Ministries, provides worship, formation, retreats, leadership and fellowship opportunities for young adults in their late teens, 20s and 30s.

YACM offers assistance to more than 50 parishes in English and 40 parishes in Spanish (or bilingual). The ministry also offers college students opportunities to find community, encounter Christ in prayer, and be formed as disciples of Jesus at Catholic Newman Centers located at five universities within the Archdiocese.

“Our campus ministry programs seek to ensure the Catholic students on their campuses find a home at the Newman Center and within the Catholic Church,” said Angie Pometto, director of YACM. “We are helping to form these young people as disciples of Christ while in college, who will then continue to actively live their Catholic faith after graduation by serving in their own parishes.”

Cardinal DiNardo said he is grateful for the continued support and generosity of the faithful in the Archdiocese that helps the annual DSF appeal.

“Your support of DSF is crucial to the efforts of our Archdiocesan family in accomplishing so much good,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Above all else, I ask you to pray for our local Church, for the success of DSF, for the ministries that are supported by DSF, and that we may strive to be closer to Christ with each passing day.”

For more information about the Diocesan Services Fund, how to contribute go to archgh.org/dsf. †

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JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/TCH

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Many reasons to run in Steps for Students STEPS, from page 1

WANT TO GO?

8 a.m. blast, and colorful confetti rains down to jolt the runners onto the course.

So far, 3,911 have registered, and Catholic schools have raised $177,453.31 that goes back to their campuses.

David Harvey Jr., a longtime Steps sponsor with his construction company Harvey Builders, has donated thousands of dollars to support Catholic education.

This year, his company is the presenting sponsor with a $20,000 sponsorship.

“We are big believers in Catholic education and its intellectual traditions — the best!” Harvey Jr. said. “Catholic schools elevate the individual student to really benefit the entire community.”

He speaks from experience after attending St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and the University of Notre Dame, as well as public schools.

The event continues as a Harvey family affair in running Steps with his wife, Rice University professor Mikki Hebl, and their three youngest children, who are teens. Two of Harvey’s grandchildren participate as students from St. Laurence Catholic School in Sugar Land along with their dad, oldest son David Harvey III, a math teacher and coach at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, who also runs in Steps and usually finishes among the top 10 runners overall.

“I graduated from Jesuit in ’97 and was cross-country team captain, so running is still in my blood,” Coach Harvey said.

“Now I teach math full-time with classes in algebra and geometry from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Then from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., I coach in strength and conditioning in our weight room for all sports in our student athletic programs.”

Previously, a Strake Jesuit track star Reese Vannerson, a four-minute miler, has won Steps in his age category. But now, many regular track meets happen on the same weekend as the Steps 5K, so high school track teams can’t make it as much to the fundraiser, Harvey said.

St. Thomas High School won the President’s Cup last year by getting more than 18% of their student population to register for Steps for Students and raising more than $4,000 going back to their school.

“It’s good for high schoolers to go to Steps and raise money for Catholic schools. And it’s also great networking at the Catholic School Village tents that are set up at Steps,” Harvey said. “The middle schoolers are looking up to the high school students who are checking out the

STEPS FOR STUDENTS 5K RUN/WALK

WHEN: February 12 WHERE: Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Pkwy., Houston) REGISTER: www.steps4students.org • Timed 5K Price: $20 • Untimed 5K Price: $18 • Family Fun Run Price: $17 (This route is under a mile.)

All price levels increase by $10 after Jan. 31 at 11:59 p.m. CST

FILE PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Catholic school students and their families turned out bundled and ready to run at Steps for Students in 2020. Catholic school communities said they were looking forward to the annual race, which also features a festive village that represents the colorful spirits of each school.

other high school competition.”

The top fundraising Catholic school for Steps as of now is St. Mary the Purification School, offering first through eighth grades and an early childhood Montessori program near Texas Southern University. Staff and teachers have recruited 100% of their 186 students to register for Steps for Students and have themselves registered, raising it to 146%, so far raising $19,362.

“Our main fundraising event is offering each student who registers for Steps a ‘golden ticket’ to watch the movie Polar Express at school, complete with providing goodies and wearing their pajamas,” said St. Mary’s Principal Lois Goudeau and then chuckled.

But COVID-19 surging around the holidays canceled the school’s Christmas party with the last week of classes going virtual. So St. Mary’s rescheduled to show the movie on Jan. 14 instead, when school resumed after the holidays with COVID-19 negative tests. They planned to show the film within smaller individual classrooms instead of all together in the auditorium on a giant movie screen.

“We know it’s not the same, but we’ll make it fun for the students and still have all the goodies. Plus, they get to enjoy participating in Steps for Students,” Goudeau said.

St. Mary the Purification Church parishioners have also been very supportive of the school, the principal

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said. She credited pastor Father Justin Arockiasamy, S.V.D., for allowing St. Mary’s students to speak at the pulpit to encourage donations for education.

“Father Justin really participates and

gets out and runs in the race. The church matches our school goals with donations,” Goudeau said.

Catholic schools have used the Steps fundraising to purchase computers, offer teacher training and student programs, including tuition assistance.

St. Mary’s development coordinator Roberta “Cookie”Taylor said the school’s fundraising this year goes into general operational funding. This will allow St. Mary’s to keep its tuition affordable for parents yet academically enriching for students, she said.

To register, sponsor, or for more Steps for Students information, visit www. steps4students.org. †

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Christmas day wedding in hospital brings joy to family despite difficulties

BY JO ANN ZUÑIGA Texas Catholic Herald HOUSTON — Hard-working Catholic lay chaplains, Houston Methodist Hospital staff and priests all came together to give Christmas Day blessings to a family battling a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Tomas Gonzalez, in his hospital gown, and wife Maria Angeles dressed in white carrying a bouquet of red and white roses, gazed at Father Philip Wilhite, their pastor from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, as he knelt before them in the hospital room.

The priest dipped his thumb in chrism and anointed the forehead of 50-year-old Gonzalez for the Anointing of the Sick, a Sacrament. The couple’s 14-year-old daughter Nataly and an older family friend Francisca Cabello witnessed as Father Wilhite helped to convalidate her parents’ marriage as a Sacrament.

“I played a very small part in it. Tomas and Angeles have been together for 15 years and wanted to become closer to God through the Sacraments, but were never married by the Church,” Father Wilhite said.“They wanted to give the Christ Child their gift of a sacramental marriage and make that covenant with God.” Shortly before the wedding,Tomas also received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and consumed Holy Communion given to him by hospital chaplain Father Desy Desmond of the Archdiocese’s Catholic Chaplains Corps (CCC).

His wife Maria Angeles said, “We put ourselves in God’s hands. If God needs him, He will take him. If He wills him to stay, he will stay with us. I have peace in my heart now.”

Lay chaplains Nannette Coons and Zoe Krizak, also of CCC, worked diligently to

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN CORPS

At left, Father Philip Wilhite, pastor from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, kneels in a Houston Methodist Hospital room before his parishioners Tomas Gonzalez, at center ina hospital gown, and wife Maria Angeles, to administer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to Gonzalez, a cancer patient, before convalidating their marriage. At right, Sarah Williams, whose son is being treated at Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands, prays before a pyx containing the Eucharist as she meets with a chaplain to receive Communion in the courtyard because of COVID-19 restrictions.

coordinate multiple details to get hospital permission for the ceremony in the ICU despite COVID-19 hospital restrictions.

They double-checked that the family had obtained an official marriage license and other necessary paperwork as offices began closing for the holidays.They began checking with priests’ hectic schedules to give the Sacraments, especially during

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the very busy Christmas season, and they prayed for a miracle.

“The wedding was so beautiful to witness,” Krizak said. “Despite the circumstances, there was a lot of joy!

The couple was so happy to be getting married.”

Coons also credits Krizak for her “relentless persistence” in maneuvering hospital policies to receive permission for the wedding, talking with nurses, social worker and hospital administrators.

“People kept saying ‘no’ because of restrictions, which we understood.

But she would try again, going to the next person, to the next level, and kept knocking on doors until we finally had a “Yes!” Through Zoe’s powerful pastoral response, God gave us all His graces,” Coons said.

Gonzalez was discharged from the hospital and went home for the new year to be with family. He recently returned to the hospital after he and his daughter contracted COVID-19, but is now home again. Yet the family says they will share the journey ahead together no matter how stressful.

With this latest COVID-19 surge of Omicron around the holidays, most hospitals are again restricting only one visitor per patient.

“Some hospitals have whole units shut down because their staff is ill. The ones still working tell us that they feel forgotten now that the public has tired of dealing with COVID-19,” Coons said.

She added, “The nurses and doctors and other staff are saying ‘everyone’s forgotten about us, but we’re still here… we’re still comforting the dying and caring for families.’”

So to show that the community still cares, Coons asked her 67 commissioned pastoral visitors from the Conroe/ Woodlands area coming from various parishes to support hospital ministry.

Since the volunteers could not go inside the hospitals because of COVID-19 restrictions, they created care bags filled with prayer cards, handwritten letters, lip balm, snack treats and other goodies to boost medical staff morale.

“Since our pastoral visitors are restricted in visiting patients at this time, they were able to help create 10,000 care bags!” Coons said. “We delivered them to medical staff, housekeeping, social workers, any of those who are there for the patients.”

To recruit additional pastoral visitors, a spring training is scheduled. For more information and to register, visit www. archgh.org/chaplaincorps/training. †

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Filipino vicar: Jubilee is a chance to embrace faith JUBILEE, from page 1 welcome pilgrims with a series of special Masses and events to commemorate five centuries of Christianity in the Philippines.

Archbishop Emeritus Joseph A. Fiorenza opened the jubilee when he celebrated a Mass on Sept. 25, 2021, at Notre Dame, where a letter by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo was shared with the Filipino community to open the special jubilee, which began on Sept. 25, 2021.

“This local Church continues to be enlivened by the deep faith and religious customs of the Filipino Catholic community throughout GalvestonHouston,” Cardinal DiNardo said in the letter. “By establishing this jubilee, it is my hope that all the faithful will grow in their awareness of the importance of missionary zeal for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that they will intensify their prayers and support for the work of our Catholic missions.”

A SPECIAL REASON TO VISIT After a request from Cardinal DiNardo, the Holy See issued a decree that the four parishes can be designated as pilgrim churches. Starting Jan. 26, the faithful can visit any of these four parishes and obtain a plenary indulgence.

A plenary indulgence grants the remission of all temporal punishment due to sin and must be coupled with a sacramental confession, reception of Holy Communion, praying for the Holy Father’s intentions and complete detachment from all sin including venial.

A number of additional Masses will conclude the eight-month celebration.

Mary Queen Catholic Church will host a Santo Niño Rosary, novena and Mass on Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. in Friendswood. Sacred Heart of Jesus in Manvel will host a Mass in February and the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart will host the final Mass on April 26, which will close the jubilee.

A SPECIAL RECOGNITION Father Edmund Eduarte, the vicar for the more than 50,000 Filipino Catholics in Galveston-Houston, welcomed Cardinal DiNardo’s message and encouraged all Catholics in the Archdiocese to embrace the jubilee as an opportunity to grow in faith, especially with the special jubilee indulgence period, which concludes April 26.

“This celebration is a recognition of the Filipino faith,” said Father Eduarte, who is also pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in the East End. “Pope Francis once noted that wherever Filipinos go, they bring with them the joy of their Catholic faith. This celebration means a great deal to us and reminds us that the gift that was given to us 500 years ago is so special.”

Father Eduarte recognized the richness and devotion in other cultural celebrations of the Catholic faith. He also saw a remarkable depth in the way Filipinos celebrate and share the faith.

“What makes the Filipino faith unique is the joy,” he said, noting how Filipinos can have a special way of dealing with life, including devastating hurricanes and storms, but still have a smile.

“Despite the destruction, they’re still smiling,” he said. “They’re grateful that they are alive. That gratitude makes them hold onto God’s promise because they know that God will never fail them, that God will always be close to them.”

IN BRIEF What are indulgences?

Through an indulgence, God grants the prayer of the Church that the temporal penalty for sin due to someone be reduced (or possibly eliminated). By God’s grace, participation in a prayer or action that has an indulgence attached to it brings about the necessary restoration and reparation without the suffering that would normally accompany it.

How does one receive an indulgence?

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo gives the blessing at the conclusion of the final Simbang Gabi Mass at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Katy on Dec. 23, 2021. The Katy-area parish is one of four new pilgrimage sites marking the jubilee of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines.

With the Philippines as the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia, Father Eduarte said he hopes Filipino Catholics will remain a visible sign of faith both there and in Texas, even if it just means feeling a sense of home.

Archdiocesan Filipino ministry officials said there are 22 Filipino priests and six Filipino deacons that serve many parishes and hospital chaplaincies in Galveston-Houston.

‘IT FELT LIKE HOME’ Like Father Eduarte, Sister Ricca Dimalibot, CCVI, M.D., medical director for the CHRISTUS Point of Light Clinic in Dickinson, is one of the more than two million Filipinos who migrated to the U.S., making the U.S. home to the largest number of Filipinos living overseas.

Sister Dimalibot, who spent the first half of her life living in the Philippines, attended the Simbang Gabi Culmination Mass, which Cardinal DiNardo celebrated on Dec. 23 at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Katy.

She saw her experience that night, which was a reflection of her early years in the Philippines, as “proof of how Catholicism is interwoven in every aspect of the lives of Filipinos.”

When she was in the Philippines, the Simbang Gabi tradition, which usually is an early morning Mass, though celebrated in the evenings here in the U.S. so that more can attend, was part of her faith.

“When I was in medical school, I walked to church with my classmates,” she said, noting how the whole neighborhood would be decorated with traditional Filipino Christmas lights and that after Mass, Filipino breakfast foods were available as a post-Mass meal. “The whole experience of worship, community and fellowship helped form my faith life now.”

“It was touching for me to sing old Filipino hymns and learn new ones during Mass,” she said. “Several dialects were spoken, and it felt like home hearing them again.”

PANDEMIC DOESN’T STOP FILIPINOS Now living in the States, Sister Dimalibot, who is also a general councilor for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, makes an effort to attend the final Simbang Gabi Mass every year.

This year is more meaningful, she said, in part because of the 500th anniversary, but also to pray for her fellow Filipinos recovering from Typhoon Rai, which killed more than 400.

She said Cardinal DiNardo’s message, which echoed the pope, was to make sure Filipino Catholics pass on the faith to the next generation. She also prayed for an end to the pandemic, the effects of which she has seen in person at her clinic.

“Several Filipinos who work in the medical field died during the pandemic.

That doesn’t stop Filipinos from traveling abroad for work to help their families,” she said.

Father Eduarte agreed, noting how the jubilee and the Simbang Gabi tradition has become a kind of pledge for many Filipinos in thanksgiving to God for the many gifts they have received, in turn, a response of faith and service to others.

And for many Filipinos, that service overflows into careers in health care, an industry that continues to buckle under the pandemic.

Just seven months into the pandemic,

It is because of the Communion of Saints that some or all of the temporal punishment for sin is removed. As a result of the communion that exists between Christ and all the members of the Church, the Church has a treasury of spiritual goods that is inexhaustible. Through her union with Christ, the Church has the authority to dispense this treasury.

When the Church does this, in order to spur people to acts of piety and charity, the Church requires those who seek an indulgence to perform some good work or act of devotion.

To receive a plenary indulgence, in addition to good works or acts of devotion, Catholics should satisfy four conditions: (1) sacramental confession, (2) reception of Holy Communion, (3) prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, and (4) complete detachment from all sin, even venial sin. For this special jubilee, local Catholics should also make a pilgrimage to one of the four jubilee parishes. † the National Nurses United found that nearly one in three U.S. registered nurses who died of COVID-19 were Filipino.

An estimated one in four frontline healthcare workers are of Filipino descent, despite the fact that Filipinos represent only 1% of the U.S. population, a July 2021 JAMA Network report said.

Filipino immigrants represent the fourth-largest migrant group, after Mexico, India and China, according to the Migration Policy Institute. †

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ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

Catholic schools celebrate Catholic education Catholic Schools Week unites students with faculty, staff

BY REBECCA TORRELLAS Texas Catholic Herald HOUSTON — National Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated across the country and in Galveston-Houston from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

Sponsored by National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Secretariat of Catholic Education, Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States.

In the Archdiocese, 56 Catholic schools are observing the week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members. The schools have different events planned to celebrate their communities, parents, nation, vocations and students.

Incarnate Word Academy (IWA) will mark the week with individual activities and themes each day, including chalking the sidewalk in front of the school with messages of Scripture, faith and encouragement. They will also honor the school’s founding order, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, by creating spiritual paper flower bouquets. Each petal will have a word of thanksgiving.

“Celebrating Catholic Schools Week

IN BRIEF

Zoo to create a Bee Pollination Garden, which will break ground on the Tuesday of Catholic Schools Week.

PHOTO BY DESIREE RODRIGUEZ On Wednesday, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Hitchcock students During last year’s Catholic Schools week, students at Incarnate Word Academy wrote affirmations for each other on clothespins, which they could share/pin on each other. will enjoy taking part in a scavenger hunt called “What Would Jesus do.” with these activities is a way to celebrate of the school culture. These include a Also on Wednesday, St. Helen Catholic living our faith and our mission of jeans day in honor of Mother Jeanne de School in Pearland will host Pearland incarnational spirituality, bringing the Matel, the foundress of the Sisters of the Mayor Kevin Cole to speak to grades love of Jesus to our community and the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, third through eighth to commemorate world,” said Rachael Valka, IWA’s co- an all-school Mass with grandparents, and celebrate those who are “Called to campus minister. and special treats for the Serve.” St. Mary Catholic “These activities give our students a faculty and staff in thanks School in League City will hands-on way to take ownership of — for their commitment to the have students PK-3 through CATHOLIC and grow in — their faith,” said Francesca mission of Catholic education. eighth grade move up a SCHOOLS Ybarra, IWA’s other co-campus minister.

On Monday, to celebrate grade for 45 minutes to give WEEK 2022 Other planned activities will celebrate the community, Corpus Christi students a taste of things to the sisterhood, which is an integral part Catholic School in Houston come next year. students will donate socks on On Thursday, St. Anne that day for the residents of St. Catholic School in Houston Dominic’s Village. will have a Parade of Prayers School principal, Dr. Mazie McCoy, for faculty and staff. St. John Paul II said she was excited about the day.

Catholic School will host their student “Students will be encouraged to ‘share council talent show. a pair and wear a pair;’ Bring a new St. Thomas More Catholic School in pair of non-skid socks to share with the Houston, to celebrate faculty, staff and St. Dominic’s residents and wear their volunteers, will host “Catholic Squares: favorite ‘crazy’ socks to school that day,” A Tic-Tac-Toe Style Trivia Game Show” she said. on Friday. Our Lady of Lourdes will be St. John Paul II Catholic School in hosting a picnic lunch, then having a Houston will host a family bingo night on “Kick Sin to the Curb” Friday game of Monday night. They declared the evening kickball. a “No Homework” night to encourage During the week, Catholic schools students to spend time with their families plan to share their CSW celebrations on tonight and play bingo. On Tuesday, the social media using #CSW22. The NCEA school will host Saint’s Alive Jeopardy. and the USCCB education secretariat Also on Tuesday, St. Mary Magdalene also will highlight Catholic education’s Catholic School in Humble will have strengths, successes and stories on a Parent Appreciation Breakfast with their Twitter profiles: @NCEATalk and a meal prepared by the Knights of @USCCBCatholicEd. Columbus. St. Rose of Lima Catholic To learn more about Catholic Schools Church in Houston is joining with St. in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Pius X High School and the Houston visit www.choosecatholicschools.org. †

Archdiocesan Mass honors Martin Luther King Jr.

PHOTO BY REBECCA TORRELLAS/HERALD

HOUSTON — The Catholic African-American Ministry choir sang at the 37th annual Mass honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Jan. 16 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston.

“As we gather to honor and remember the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we recall that in face of social and racial injustice he sought to transform this nation by returning us to the ‘original position’ of the human person, which is one of openness to ‘the other,’” said Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, who celebrated the Mass. “The human person enters this world already in relationship with others.

We call this the family.” The choir, which was founded in the early 1980s, is under the direction of Dr. Andre LaCour, who plays drums.

The civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, but made astounding societal changes in his short life.

Father Houston Okonma, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, was the homilist.

“Martin Luther King Jr., in many minds, is a great face against racism and injustice. But in celebrating his life and achievement, it is important to self-reflect upon our own biases and stereotypes and see if there is any room for that in the Kingdom of God,” he said. “Martin Luther King Jr. is simply a participant in our Savior’s war against sin, a war that was victorious on the Cross, inviting us to freely choose God instead of choosing ourselves. We are all called to participate in this same love.” †

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56 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN THE GALVESTON-HOUSTON AREA • 45 PRIMARY & MIDDLE SCHOOLS; 11 HIGH SCHOOLS FIND A FULL LIST OF SCHOOLS AND OPEN HOUSE INFORMATION AT

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1,766 FACULTY & STAFF OVER 17,000 STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS

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10 TEXAS CATHOLIC HERALD

ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

‘In Spirit and Truth’: Nearly 500 confirmed on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald

KINGWOOD — “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit,” Daniel Cardinal DiNardo said, leaning forward to greet a bespectacled man in a green long sleeve while anointing him with chrism on his forehead.

A few moments later, he repeated but in Spanish: “Recibe por esta señal el Don del Espíritu Santo,” again lifting his thumb to anoint a smiling woman dressed in white.

Since it was the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Christmas trees still sparkled behind him in the sanctuary of St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood.

Nearly 500 Catholics from 59 parishes across the Archdiocese received the Sacrament of Confirmation when Cardinal DiNardo and Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro celebrated four separate Masses on Jan. 9.

The bilingual Masses were held at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, St. Angela Merici in Missouri City and St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood.

These four Masses, where Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop Dell’Oro anointed the foreheads of the candidates with holy chrism in an intimate one-on-one moment with a Catholic and his or her bishop, signaled the culmination of months of catechesis and effort, alongside their sponsors who helped guide them in the process, at their parishes and lives.

Each of the candidates confirmed had a sponsor standing behind them, with their right hand on the candidate’s shoulder, in support of presence and prayer.

At the Mass, the bishop recites a prayer that invokes God the Father for an “outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” according to the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults

IN BRIEF What exactly is the Rite of Confirmation?

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro anoints the head of a confirmation candidate during a celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation at a Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The bishop extends his two hands over all those to be confirmed, a sign of continuity of the New Testament custom of laying hands on those who would receive the gift of the Spirit.

The seven gifts traditionally associated with the Spirit are inspired by Isaiah 11:13, and include: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety or reverence and fear of the Lord, also known as wonder and awe.

The Mass also included a renewal of baptismal promises, showing the connection between Confirmation and Baptism. Confirmation, like Baptism, is only given once since it also “imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark.”

In a May 2018 general audience,

“The gift of the Spirit is communicated through the laying on of hands and anointing with sacred chrism.”

POPE FRANCIS Pope Francis continued his series of catechetical messages on the Sacrament of Confirmation.

“Just as Jesus received the outpouring of the Spirit at His Baptism in order to carry out His messianic mission, the Church prays that we too may receive the gifts and fruits of the Spirit that enable us to help the Body of Christ grow in unity and missionary zeal,” he said. “The gift of the Spirit is communicated through the laying on of hands and anointing with sacred chrism.”

He prayed for those who received the

The prophets of the Old Testament foretold that God’s Spirit would rest upon the Messiah to sustain His mission. Their prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus the Messiah was conceived by the Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus on the occasion of His baptism by John. Jesus’ entire mission occurred in communion with the Spirit. Before He died, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles and to the entire Church. After His death, He was raised by the Father in the power of the Spirit.

The Rite of Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service. † — U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults Sacrament of Confirmation and said that “sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are configured more closely to Christ and strengthened to bear witness to Him in our world. May each of us grow in gratitude for the gift received at our Confirmation and open our hearts ever more fully to the creativity of the Spirit who makes all things new.” †

LOCAL

JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/TCH

OBITUARIES

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IN MEMORIA

Father Al Gaelens, CSB

HOUSTON — Father Al Gaelens, CSB, who began his priestly ministry in Houston, died Dec. 23 at Houston Hospice. He was 89 years old.

He had been a member of the Congregation of Priests of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers) for 70 years and a priest for 61 years. Father Gaelens was also principal of St. Thomas High School in Houston in the late 80s and early 90s. In 2000, he returned to St. Thomas High School as the alumni director before he retired. He spent his last years with his Basilian brothers at Dillon House in Houston.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Anne Catholic Church on Dec. 30, 2021. Interment is in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery. †

Father Jack ‘John’ McGinnis

BEAUMONT, Texas — Father Jack McGinnis, who served in various parishes and ministries in the Archdiocese, died Jan. 1. He was 84 years old.

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese on Dec. 21, 1963. He served as a parish priest in various parishes in Houston until 1980, at which time he began a ministry of retreats and workshops on healing and recovery from addictive behavior throughout the U.S. and nine foreign countries.

A Celebration of Life for Father McGinnis will be held Monday, Feb. 14, at 11:30 a.m. at Xavier College Prep High School in Palm Desert, California. Interment will be in the McGinnis family plot in Beaumont, Texas. †

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“We received this world as an inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we will have to return it!”

– Pope Francis

Pray for the following priests whose anniversaries of death are during the month of February: Feb. 1, 1904 Rev. Vac Chlapik Feb. 1, 1915 Rev. F.M. Huhn Feb. 2, 1930 Rev. F. Nona Feb. 2, 1995 Rev. Abraham Sy Thuyen Ho,OP Feb. 2, 2004 Msgr. Jack B. Jones Feb. 3, 1968 Rev. Joseph C. Morrell Feb. 3, 1968 Rev. Thomas A. Ryan Feb. 5, 1978 Rev. Joseph Coll Feb. 6, 1955 Rev. N.T. Domanski Feb. 7, 1935 Msgr. John Nicholson Feb. 7, 1935 Rev. Christopher Preker Feb. 8, 1995 Rev. A. Wayne Elkins Feb. 9, 1996 Msgr. Cornelius P. Flynn Feb. 10, 1936 Rev. John Baptist O’Leary Feb. 10, 1991 Msgr. Frank D. Urbanosky Feb. 10, 1997 Rev. John Prill Feb. 11, 1957 Rev. Fabian Stindle Feb. 11, 1957 Rev. Joseph Kloboulk Feb. 11, 1978 Rev. John Zimmer, CSsR Feb. 12, 1906 Rev. J.J. Costello, CSB Feb. 12, 1923 Rev. Pete J. Clancy Feb. 13, 1988 Rev. Richard Johnson, CSsR Feb. 13, 2001 Rev. Charles Ferguson Feb. 13, 2011 Msgr. Joseph H. Crosthwait

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Family Life Ministry Formation Day:

Evangelizing Spouses Married couples serving in Family Life Ministries are invited to a day of enrichment, fellowship, and family enjoyment!

This is a bilingual enrichment program with separate English and Spanish tracks presented by Ryan and Mary Rose Verret & the Mazzone Family, founders of Witness to Love.

Presentations

Details

• • • •

• • • •

Evangelizing Spouses Virtue: The Key to Unlocking Grace in Your Marriage The Witness of Your Love Celebration of the Mass and special presentation

by Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell'Oro, C.R.S.

Feb. 14, 1916 Rev. D.F. Berberich Feb. 14, 1951 Rev. Emil Landry Feb. 14, 1978 Msgr. Jerome J. Tydlacka Feb. 14, 1979 Rev. E.C. Fowler Feb. 15, 2018 Rev. Aureliano Santa-Olaya Feb. 16, 1951 Rev. Walter Fraher, MS Feb. 17, 1879 Rev. Theodore Greyenbuhl Feb. 17, 2017 Rev. Bruce H. Noble Feb. 18, 1933 Rev. Otto Niekamp Feb. 19, 1883 Rev. Joseph Mosiewiez Feb. 19, 1960 Msgr. George A. Wilhelm Feb. 19, 1965 Rev. Henry V. Parmentier Feb. 20, 1968 Rev. Florimond B. Vanholme,SSC Feb. 20, 1984 Msgr. William D. Steele Feb. 21, 1983 Rev. Leonard C. Quinlan, CSB Feb. 21, 2005 Rev. Robert A. Bordenkircher, OP Feb. 22, 1879 Rev. Martin Weinzaepflen Feb. 22, 2001 Rev. Ed Baur, SVD Feb. 24, 1974 Rev. Henry J. Saxon Feb. 24, 2011 Rev. David H. Noble Feb. 25, 1973 Rev. Vincent J. Guinan, CSB Feb. 27, 1980 Rev. Alfred P. Caird, CSB Feb. 28, 1913 Rev. Pierre C. Saint-Onge

Saturday, February 5th Circle Lake Retreat Center $160 per couple English and Spanish tracks

* Children’s program available for ages 7-17. $50 per child. * Overnight stay available for $230 per house (7-9 guests occupancy). * Limited availability for these additional services.

Register: archgh.org/f lmevents

12 TEXAS CATHOLIC HERALD

ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

EDUCATION New academic building on Strake Jesuit campus expands educational opportunities HOUSTON — Strake Jesuit College Preparatory held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 5, marking the completion of a yearlong construction project on a new academic and administrative building, Loyola Hall.

In collaboration with Jackson & Ryan Architects, Catholic philanthropist David Harvey and D.E. Harvey Builders constructed the new classrooms, offices and community spaces.

The Moran Student Commons will feature a six-foot crucifix, designed, sculpted and cast in bronze by Cody Swanson in Florence, Italy. The names of 14 Jesuit saints are mounted in the firstfloor common areas to remind students of their own invitations from God. Since January 2020, Strake Jesuit has been focused on bringing to life its

strategic plan that recommits the school to being Catholic and Jesuit, studentcentered and accessible. The building of Loyola Hall is just one initiative from that plan that comes as a response to the growing demand for a Catholic education in Houston.

“A Jesuit education is more than academic preparation for a career.

A Jesuit education addresses all developmental needs of a young man, and one of our primary commitments is to support student-centered learning and formation in amazing facilities,” said President Father Jeff Johnson, S.J. To make an outstanding Catholic education on their campus more accessible to anyone who desires it, Strake Jesuit has increased its financial aid budget to $4.3 million dollars. †

PHOTO BY MARILYN OTHON

From left to right, David Harvey, Dewey Gonsoulin, Ken Lojo, Father Jeff Johnson, S.J., Robert Clay, Al Clay, John Mooz and David Beathard attend the ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 5 at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory.

Title Sponsor The Marek Family Foundation Presents

PHOTO BY MARILYN OTHON

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory completes construction of a new academic and administrative building called Loyola Hall.

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YOUTH Disciples Assemble! Archdiocesan Junior High Rally returns Attention all junior high youth, the Holy Spirit is calling you! So find your super suit and prepare for a saintly hero journey as well shout Disciples Assemble to celebrate the 2022 Archdiocesan Junior High Youth Rally, sponsored by the Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization (OACE) for the Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston.

We will be gathering once again in person to celebrate this fantastic gathering of middle school students in sixth to eighth grade from throughout the Archdiocese. The 2022 Archdiocesan Junior High Youth Rally will be held on Saturday, Feb. 26, from 10:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. as we return to St. Bernadette Catholic Church, located at 15500 El Camino Real in Houston.

This year’s theme is Disciples Assemble based on Matthew 28:19-20 “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of

the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”We will explore how to use our gifts from the Holy Spirit to help us be modern-day disciples following the examples of young holy teens and saints from the 20th Century until today. We will break open themes like caring for ourselves, spiritual growth, using our gifts to share our faith with others. We want to help our teens be able to express their faith in word and actions like Blessed Carlo Acutis or Chiara Badano.

We hope the rally will help them be able to evangelize the good news to their family and others, especially during these unique times.

Throughout the day, participants will experience keynotes, service experiences, workshops and community building, along with prayer experiences and the celebration of the Mass. This

year, we are very excited to have Ricky Hernandez, executive director of the Brenda and John Duncan YMCA, former director of youth ministry at St. Jerome Catholic Church.

Hernandez is an enthusiastic and energetic speaker. He ministers by the motto, “Teens don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”Through stories, games and fun, he keeps the young Church engaged and involved. He has been working in youth ministry for over 20 years, owns his own motivational speaking company, “Bring It Strong Ministries,” and has spoken at churches/schools/camps from Texas to Florida. Whether it’s 2,500 people or 25 people, he “brings it strong” every single time.

Ricky’s greatest achievement by far is raising two wonderful children, Jacob and Audrey, and convincing his wife of 21 years to spend forever with him.

Registration for the rally is $40

through Feb. 4, and $50 after until Feb. 18. The registration cost covers the program festivities, two meals, T-shirt, prayer souvenir and Saturday Entertainment. If you would like more information or to register, please contact your parish youth ministry/religious education leader or call/email the Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization 713-714-8723; Radams@ archgh.org.

In this ever-changing pandemic landscape, we are monitoring COVID-19 updates and will keep our youth ministry community and their attending families aware of protocols as we grow closer to the Feb. 26 rally. † Randy Adams is executive director of Camp Kappe Youth Retreat Facility and associate director of the Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization.

SUNDAY MASS READINGS JANUARY 30 First Reading: Jer 1:4-5, 17-19 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:1-6, 15-17 Second Reading: 1 Cor 12:31-13:13 or 1 Cor 13:4-13 Gospel: Luke 4:21-30

FEBRUARY 6 First Reading: Is 6:1-2, 3-8 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-5, 7-8 Second Reading: 1 Cor 15:1-11 or 1 Cor 15:3-8, 11 Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

Teen & Parent Lenten Silent Retreat March 25 - March 27

Imagine giving your teen (age 13-19) the gift of learning how to have a personal relationship with God through Meditative Prayer.

This retreat is designed for parents to introduce their teen to meditative prayer through a silent retreat that both teen and parent embark on together.

Retreat Master, Kim Brown, M.Th., M.Ed Early Registration Ends February 25

Lenten Silent Retreat April 1 - April 3 Enter into a weekend Silent Retreat with God! Spiritual Director, Kim Brown will guide attendees using two methods of meditative prayer focusing on the passion and death of our Lord.

Early Registration Ends March 1

Safety protocols are in place

Information and registration at https://retreatcentercrc.org

“One of the greatest gifts of our time is the rediscovery of Sacred Scripture in the life of the Church and the faithful.” - Pope Francis

14 TEXAS CATHOLIC HERALD

ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

COLUMNIST A New Year’s Resolution: Take some spiritual rest As I gaze out the window trying to be inspired in writing this column, I notice how winter has slowed nature down.

Trees have dropped their leaves; the grass has lost its vibrant green to a drab brown, and the days are shorter.

At first glance, it appears nature is dying, but looks can be deceiving. The increase in dark hours is there for nature to rest. In winter, there is a stillness in nature. “To everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and winter is the divine’s appointed time for rest.

After the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, one would think that we would look forward to slowing down.

But, sadly, that reality is not part of our American culture. We are pushed to experience more, do more, consume more, work more, everything more, more, more! All the health experts reiterate that our bodies regenerate when we rest. We hear that we should get eight hours of sleep.

When we are ill, we are instructed to

get plenty of sleep. Yet, we push ourselves, resisting winter’s call for rest.

Humans, like animals and trees, need a winter’s quiescence to recharge.

What if we follow the rules of nature and take by time to rest, to be still?

DEBORAH While we know that physical self-care directly JONES affects our body and that mental self-care takes care of our mind, we must not forget that spiritual self-care focuses on caring for our soul.

What if, along with our New Year’s resolution to diet, exercise and lose weight, we also concentrate on our spiritual health?

Some suggestions for spiritual self-care are to practice meditation or contemplation, spend time in nature, practice silence, go on retreat, begin journaling, find a spiritual director, unplug from technology, and learn/

†

practice a new prayer form.

Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still and know that I am God.”The word “still” is translated from the Hebrew word “rapa” which also means “to slacken, let down, or cease.” Many Christians interpret the command to “be still” as to quietly be in God’s presence.

What if we also slacken our grip on our need to control and allow God to take charge? What if we let down our defenses and trust that God will care for us? We need to cease or stop our need for the “more” and our need to take control. As the saying goes, “let go and let God.” God knew that we needed rest.

Hence, biblically he set aside the seventh day to rest.

This seventh day of creation — this day of rest — makes us part of God’s family. If we did not have this divine plan for rest, we risk entering a relationship with God as one of master and slave.

We should take advantage of God’s plan of rest for us. This winter, take time

“This winter, take time from doing and allow yourself to just be. Allow yourself the time to rest spiritually.

Practice spiritual self-help and take time to be still and know God.” from “doing” and allow yourself to just “be.” Allow yourself the time to rest spiritually. Practice spiritual self-help and take time to be still and know God. †

Deborah Jones is an associate director with the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/DIGITALEDITIONS

texas catholic herald

15

WORLD

Seeking God together will bring Christians closer to each other, pope says VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the goal of Christian unity seems far off, “let us remind ourselves that we are making this journey not as those who already possess God but as those who continue to seek him,” Pope Francis told members of an ecumenical pilgrimage from Finland.

On the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the pope told the Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims that “we need to press forward with humility and patience, and always together, in order to encourage and support one another, for this is what Christ desires.”

Meeting Jan. 17 with the delegation, which included Lutheran pastors from the Indigenous Sámi community, the pope said he agreed with Lutheran Bishop Jukka Keskitalo of Oulu, president of the delegation, that humility and patience also are essential to the reconciliation process Christian churches are called to engage in with Indigenous communities.

As in many other countries, the process of sharing the Gospel with the Sámi and offering them a Western education often led to the suppression of Indigenous culture and language.

Bishop Keskitalo said the people of Finland are now trying to listen to the stories of the Sámi people and seek truth and reconciliation, according to a press release from the Finnish Lutheran church.

“We are also coming to the moment when the entire Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, and other churches, should apologize to the Sámi,” the bishop told the pope, according to the press statement. “Of course, there is no need to apologize for bringing the good news of the Gospel to all people; repentance and a

“We need to press forward with humility and patience, and always together, in order to encourage and support one another, for this is what Christ desires.”

POPE FRANCIS

CNS PHOTO

Pope Francis accepts a gift during an audience with an ecumenical delegation from Finland at the Vatican Jan. 17. Presenting the gift were Lutheran Bishop Jukka Keskitalo of Oulu, flanked by two Lutheran pastors, the Rev. Tuomo Huusko and the Rev. Mari Valjakka. The two pastors, who are wearing traditional Sámi dress, minister to the Indigenous community.

possible apology concern the abuses and structural sins of the past that continue to affect people’s lives.”

Pope Francis prayed that God would accompany the people of Finland “on the journey toward reconciliation and the healing of memories and make all Christians free and determined in the earnest search for truth.”

And, he said, as the journey toward Christian unity continues, two important anniversaries are approaching that will give Christians an opportunity to see

how far they have come and to ponder what their next steps might be.

“In 2025, we will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea,” which acknowledged Jesus to be “true God from true God” and “consubstantial with the Father,” the pope said. Those foundational statements of faith unite all baptized Christians.

“In view of this great anniversary, let us renew our enthusiasm for journeying together in the way of Christ, in the way that is Christ,” the pope said. “For we need

him and the newness and incomparable joy that he brings. Only by clinging to him will we reach the end of the path leading to full unity. For it is Christ whom the men and women of every time, including our own, are seeking, however unconsciously.”

The second anniversary is “in 2030 — whether we will be around or not, I don’t know,” the 85-year-old pope told the group. The year will mark the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, a document that is now seen as a key summary of Lutheran faith.

But, the pope said, when it was presented in Augsburg, Germany, on June 25, 1530, “at a time when Christians were about to set out on different paths, that confession attempted to preserve unity.”

“We know that it did not succeed in preventing division, but the forthcoming anniversary can serve as a fruitful occasion to encourage and confirm us on our journey of Communion, so that we can become more docile to God’s will and less to human strategies,” the pope said. †

Synodality and ecumenism require walking together, say cardinals VATICAN CITY (CNS) — All Christians are invited to pray for unity and continue to journey together, said Mario Cardinal Grech, general secretary of the Synod of the Bishops, and Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Toward that end, the two offices came together to offer a prayer, which could be added to the other intentions during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18 to 25.

Inspired by the theme of this year’s Week of Prayer, “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship Him,” the prayer “offers a propitious occasion to pray with all Christians that the synod will proceed in an ecumenical spirit,” the two cardinals said in a joint news release Jan. 17.

“Conscious of our need for the accompaniment and the many gifts of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we call on them to journey with us during these two years, and we sincerely pray that Christ will lead us closer to Him and so to one another,” they said.

The prayer is: “Heavenly Father, as the Magi journeyed toward Bethlehem led by the star, so by your heavenly light, guide the Catholic Church to walk together with all Christians during this time of synod.

As the Magi were united in their worship of Christ, lead us closer to your Son and so to one another, so that we become a sign of the unity that you desire for your Church and the whole creation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Cardinals Koch and Grech have been highlighting ways the local churches can implement an ecumenical dimension of the synodal process given that“synodality and ecumenism are processes of walking together,” they wrote in a joint letter dated Oct. 28, 2021, sent to bishops responsible for ecumenism within their episcopal conferences.

The Catholic Church inaugurated a synodal process, titled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” in October 2021. It will lead to a general assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.

Because a synodal Church is a Church that listens,“this listening should concern the totality of those who are honored by the name of Christian, since all the baptized participate to some degree in the sensus fidei,” Cardinals Grech and Koch wrote.

Ecumenism is an “exchange of gifts,” and “one of the gifts Catholics can receive from the other Christians is precisely their experience and understanding of synodality,” they added.

Among the suggestions in the letter, the cardinals ask that dioceses reach out to the leaders of the main Christian communities in their area, inform them about the synodal process, invite them to appoint delegates to participate in the pre-synodal diocesan meetings, and possibly address the diocesan synodal assembly, organize listening sessions, and encourage them to send written reflections on the questionnaire included in the preparatory document. †

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ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

STATE & NATION

Fort Worth-area Catholic parish reaches out to synagogue next door after hostage crisis

CNS PHOTO

Local and national media, along with police, crowd the parking lot at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Colleyville, Texas, Jan. 15, after four hostages were taken during services at nearby Congregation Beth Israel. After about an 11-hour standoff with an FBI crisis response team on the scene, the incident at the synagogue ended with the hostages’ release and the hostage-taker being fatally shot.

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COLLEYVILLE, Texas (CNS) — As the tense hours of a Jan. 15 hostage standoff situation unfolded at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville in the DallasFort Worth metro area, so too did an unbelievable manifestation of faith and community at nearby Good Shepherd Church, according to Franciscan Father Zachary Burns.

“Just seeing not only the Good Shepherd community but people from other faiths and the community, in general, coming together to help one another was so unbelievable,” the parish’s parochial vicar told North Texas Catholic, the news outlet of the Fort Worth Diocese.

That morning a British citizen, later identified as Malik Faisal Akram, 44, entered Congregation Beth Israel armed during the synagogue’s Sabbath morning service and took four hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, and engaged in an 11-hour standoff with law enforcement officials.

All four were eventually released unharmed though Akram was killed in the incident.

Officials from numerous law enforcement agencies and media outlets made use of Good Shepherd’s parking lot and facilities during the standoff.

“We were able to open the parish hall for them and congregants from Congregation Beth Israel so they could get out of the cold, warm up and get coffee,” said Mike Short, the diocese’s director of security.

Short oversaw the diocesan Guardian ministers’ efforts to assist law enforcement officials.

“We had a great response from (Guardian ministers) from throughout the diocese who provided security and help throughout the day,” Short said. “It was amazing — the support from staff, parishioners, other faith leaders and members, and the community just pulling together to do everything they could to help.”

The diocese’s Guardian Ministry is a community-led safety and security volunteer ministry that provides parishes with a peaceful and safe place to worship.

“I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful we are for our Guardian ministers,”Father Burns said.“So thankful we have these guys willing to be that line of defense, and yesterday’s response was unbelievable. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many Guardians showed up.”

Members of Christian, Jewish and Islamic faith backgrounds and a representative from the city attended a prayer vigil in Good Shepherd’s chapel.

“It was a late development deal that lasted about 45 minutes,” Father Burns said. “Just a chance for anyone to get up and offer a prayer or reflection, just people trying to support each other.”

Food prepared for a marriage ministry event scheduled that night that was canceled was donated to feed those on hand. Parishioners and others arrived throughout the day with food and offers to help. “We actually got more requests to help than we could take,” Short said.

Father Burns, who came to the parish

about two years ago from “up north” joked that he was told beforehand that people in Texas, Catholic and otherwise, tend to live out their faith in everyday life.

“That was very evident today,” Father Burns said.

Fort Worth Bishop Michael F. Olson agreed.

“Thanks be to God for their safety,” Bishop Olson tweeted after the hostages’ safe release.

Bishop Olson also thanked the leaders of Good Shepherd, first responders and members of Congregation Beth Israel.

Father Burns noted that Rabbi Cytron-Walker, a proponent of interfaith dialogue, has long been a friend of Good Shepherd.

“My whole time here has been under the pandemic, so I haven’t had a chance to meet with many area leaders of other faiths,” Father Burns said.

He noted that he and Good Shepherd’s pastor, Franciscan Father Michael Higgins, “had lunch with Rabbi Charlie recently, and it’s ironic that yesterday I saw maybe the largest interfaith gathering I’ve ever seen out of what was a very hectic and tragic day.”

In an interview with the local ABCTV affiliate, Father Higgins said: “When our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community were suffering, we suffered with them. It was terrible that they had to go through this. This was a frightening experience for the family.”

When the standoff ended, he added, there were “cheers and hugging and praying together” among family members and others in the parish hall. It was “really powerful,” the priest said.

Across the country, Wilton Cardinal Gregory of Washington, who has long been involved in interfaith dialogue and other efforts, expressed relief that the hostages were safe in a Jan. 16 tweet.

“We thank God for the safety of the members of Beth Israel in Texas. Thanks also for the successful work of those public safety officials,” he tweeted. “We stand with our Jewish neighbors as they confront violence. May all who suffer hatred in their places of worship know of our prayers.”

The Washington Post and other news outlets said the hostage-taker reportedly expressed anger over the imprisonment of a Pakistani woman convicted on terrorism charges in a New York court in 2010 and being held in federal prison in Fort Worth. The woman, Aafia Siddiqui, was found guilty of attempting to murder American soldiers in Afghanistan.

The FBI and other law enforcement officials were investigating Akram’s arrival in the United States at John F. Kennedy International Airport about five weeks ago, his subsequent travel to the Dallas area where he stayed in a homeless shelter for some nights in early January, and how and when he bought the gun he used in taking the hostages.

Two teenagers were arrested Jan. 15 in Manchester, England, as part of the investigation. The teens were later identified as being Akram’s sons. †

JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/DIGITALEDITIONS

texas catholic herald

17

MUNDO CATÓLICO

Papa: Cuiden la identidad cristiana que los niños reciben en el bautismo CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Antes de bautizar a 16 bebés en la Capilla Sixtina, el papa Francisco recordó a los padres y padrinos su responsabilidad de cuidar y preservar la identidad cristiana que los bebés estaban a punto de recibir.

“Esta es su tarea a lo largo de sus vidas: custodiar la identidad cristiana de sus hijos”, dijo el papa. “Es un compromiso diario: ayudarlos a crecer con la luz que reciben hoy”.

El papa bautizó a los siete niños y las nueve niñas, hijos de los empleados del Vaticano, en la Capilla Sixtina durante la celebración de la Misa del 9 de enero, la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor.

La tradición anual de bautizar a los niños en el día de la fiesta, que comenzó en 1981 por San Juan Pablo II, fue cancelada el año pasado debido a la pandemia.

Aunque los bautismos se reanudaron este año, el número de infantes se redujo significativamente. En enero de 2020, el papa bautizó a 32 niños en la Capilla Sixtina.

Al pronunciar una homilía breve e improvisada, el papa Francisco recordó un himno para el día de la fiesta que decía que el pueblo de Israel fue al río Jordán para ser bautizado “con los pies descalzos y el alma desnuda”.

“Estos niños vienen hoy aquí con los pies descalzos y el alma desnuda para recibir la justificación de Dios, la fuerza de Jesús, la fuerza para seguir adelante en la vida”, dijo. “Sus hijos recibirán hoy su identidad cristiana. Y vosotros, padres y padrinos, debéis custodiar esta identidad”.

Con los sonidos de los niños inquietos llenando la capilla, el papa repitió su consejo habitual a las madres de los bebés, alentándolas a hacer que sus hijos se sientan cómodos y no preocuparse si

CNS PHOTO

El papa Francisco bautiza a un bebé durante la misa que marca la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor en la Capilla Sixtina en el Vaticano el 9 de enero. El papa bautizó a 16 niños.

comienzan a llorar en la capilla.

“Esta ceremonia... es un poco larga, los niños se sienten extraños aquí en un entorno que no conocen. Por favor: son los protagonistas de la ceremonia. Procuren que no tengan mucho calor, libérenlos

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de cosas, háganlos sentir cómodos”, dijo el papa Francisco. “Y si tienen hambre, aliméntenlos tranquilamente aquí, frente al Señor. No hay problema. Y si gritan, que griten, porque tienen un espíritu de comunidad, [...], podemos decir un

‘espíritu de banda’, un espíritu de estar juntos, y basta con que uno empiece para que todos se [vuelvan] musicales y la orquesta surja inmediatamente. Dejad que lloren tranquilamente, que se sientan libres”. †

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APOYO PASTORAL A VÍCTIMAS DE ABUSO SEXUAL DEL CLERO

En un continuo esfuerzo por facilitar atención pastoral a las victimas de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, el Cardenal DiNardo gustaría recordar a los fieles de la Arquidiócesis la disponibilidad del Coordinador de Ayuda a Víctimas. Si alguien ha sido victim de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, se les anima llamar a la Diane Vines al 713-654-5799. Por favor rece por la sanación de las víctimas del abuso y por todos los que sufren de alguna manera.

18 TEXAS CATHOLIC HERALD

ARCHGH.ORG/TCH • JANUARY 25, 2022

WITHIN THE ARTS

Author hopes new book helps Catholics ‘achieve living portrait’ of Christ SILVER SPRING, Md. (CNS) — The idea for veteran Catholic author Russell Shaw’s latest book actually originated about 30 years ago.

A highly educated man who was a lifelong Catholic was leading a group discussion on the Gospel of St. Matthew and told the couples in the group that he had read St. Matthew’s Gospel straight through from beginning to end.

He confessed that he had never read any of the Gospels that way before. “And you know what?” he told the group. “It’s telling a story!”

Shaw wrote his 24th book, “The Life of Jesus Christ: Understanding the Story of the Gospels,” published by Our Sunday Visitor in 2021, to help people experience and follow Christ by reading the Gospels.

“I’ve been reading the New Testament every day for the last 40 years,” said Shaw, who spends about five to 10 minutes daily reading one of the Gospels, starting at the beginning. “You learn something new every time,” he said.

Shaw is 86 and lives in a retirement community in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring with his wife of 63 years, Carmen. They have five children, 10 grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

A native Washingtonian, he grew up

attending the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, where he went to grade school before graduating from Gonzaga College High School and Georgetown University.

His first job was as a summer intern with the Catholic Standard newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.

Shaw later served as a reporter with Catholic News Service, and over the years, he also worked as director of publications and information for the National Catholic Educational Association, as the secretary for public affairs of what was then the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference, and as director of information for the Knights of Columbus.

Remembering that fellow Catholic’s encounter with the Gospels, Shaw said he thought about “writing a simple, popular life of Christ.” He wrote a series of related articles for Our Sunday Visitor, a national Catholic newspaper, where he is a contributing editor, that formed the framework for his new book.

“My book is not intended to replace reading the Gospels. I would encourage everyone interested in the life of Christ to put reading the Gospels at the top of the list,” he told the Catholic Standard.

Shaw said that people who have just heard Gospel passages read at Mass but

LOCAL CATHOLIC NEWS.

WHERE YOU WANT IT. WHEN YOU WANT IT.

have not read them may think of them as isolated passages, but he said when the Gospels are read, “what you’ve got is a full, integrated story, namely the life of Jesus Christ.”

Shaw’s book, written in the readable style that has marked his books and articles, includes chapters that weave together the accounts of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John on Jesus’s Nativity and hidden years; His Baptism

and temptation; the beginning of His ministry and His ministry in Galilee; the Sermon on the Mount; the Apostles and opponents of Christ; His parables, the Last Supper, and His trial and crucifixion; and Christ’s resurrection and ascension.

The author said he hopes the book will help people integrate“the wonderful story told in the New Testament” and inspire them to “make reading and praying about the Gospels part of their daily routine.”

Shaw said reading the Gospels helps people “achieve a living portrait of Jesus Christ and what He was like,” so Christ can become a companion, friend and guide in their daily life.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the veteran author and journalist, whose books include “American Church” (2013) and “Catholics in America” (2016) is now writing his 25th book, which he said is about what Catholic laypeople can do to help the Church through this challenging time.

The back cover of Shaw’s “The Life of Jesus Christ” describes the book as “the scriptural companion you’ve been searching for.”

“Together, the four Gospels reveal Jesus Christ, God incarnate, as a man of complexity and depth — compassionate but stern, who knew how to laugh and how to cry, a charismatic leader uninterested in worldly power, a subtle thinker who drew sublime messages from ordinary life,” it says. “With Shaw guiding you, you will truly get to know the Son of God in a new way.” †

MOVIE RATINGS By Catholic News Service A-I – GENERAL PATRONAGE

A-III – ADULTS

• Ron’s Gone Wrong (PG)

A-II – ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS • American Underdog (PG) • Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (PG) • Sing 2 (PG)

WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/DIGITALEDITIONS

• Being the Ricardos (R) • National Champions (R) • Spider-Man: No Way Home (PG-13) • The 355 (PG1-13) • The King’s Man (R) • The Matrix Resurrections (R) • West Side Story (PG-13)

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PASTORAL SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

LET US HELP!

In a continuing effort to provide pastoral care to victims of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo would

like to remind the faithful of the Archdiocese of the availability of the Victims Assistance Coordinator. Anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel is encouraged to call Diane Archdiocesan Office Vines at 713-654-5799. Please keep in daily prayers the healing of victims of abuse and all who suffer in any way.

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L – LIMITED ADULT AUDIENCE • House of Gucci (R) • Nightmare Alley (R)

O – MORALLY OFFENSIVE • Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (R) • Scream (R)

JANUARY 25, 2022 • ARCHGH.ORG/DIGITALEDITIONS

texas catholic herald

MILESTONES

LEADERSHIP

19

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KNIGHTS OF PETER CLAVER HOST HOLIDAY LUNCH FOR CLERGY

Catholic Charities’ CEO Cynthia N. Colbert named to Texas federal reserve board HOUSTON — The Federal lifting up the most vulnerable Reserve Board of Governors in members of our community.”

Washington, D.C., appointed Catholic Charities provides Cynthia N. Colbert, MSW, to the life-changing help to all people board of directors of the Federal through a network of social Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Houston service programs. The agency Branch. Colbert is president and responded to the COVID-19 CEO of Catholic Charities of pandemic by tripling food the Archdiocese of Galvestondistribution at its food pantries.

Houston.

In addition, Catholic Charities She will serve a three-year was selected by City of Houston CYNTHIA term ending Dec. 31, 2024. and Harris County officials COLBERT Of the seven members of the to distribute more than $260 Houston Branch of the Dallas million in public funds over Fed, she is one of three appointed by the last two years to families who the Federal Reserve Board of Governors experienced severe financial harm as a in Washington. The rest are appointed result of the pandemic. locally.

Colbert served as executive director As a board member, Colbert will of Catholic Charities in Austin and provide input on regional economic Wichita, Kansas, in addition to executive conditions as part of the Federal Reserve’s leadership at United Way Capital Area monetary policy functions.

Austin.

“I’m humbled by the opportunity to She is on the board of the Texas share the social services perspective Executive Women, United Way of Greater with my distinguished colleagues on Houston and Catholic Charities USA. this board,” Colbert said. “At Catholic She serves as treasurer of the Network Charities, we are keenly aware of the of Behavioral Health Providers and is a significance of a healthy economy, which senior fellow at the American Leadership serves as an essential foundation for Forum. †

AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE Editor’s Note: Contact event organizers for the latest updates and information. For deadline/submission details and other listings, visit WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.

JAN. 29

YOUTH CONFERENCE, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Catholic Charismatic Center (1949 Cullen Blvd., Houston). Disciples In Growth Youth Group hosts the Evolution 2022 Youth Conference for ages 13 to 18 with speakers Paul J. Kim, Michael Gormley and Father David Michael Moses. $25/person. Register: https://cccgh. com/evolution-youth-conference. More info: 713-385-5755; fsv210@hotmail.com.

A NIGHT OF REFLECTION, 6:30 p.m., St. Cecilia Catholic Church (11720 Joan of Arc Dr., Houston). John Michael Talbot presents “Come Home, Little Children.” More info: faithformation@saintcecilia.org, 713-465-3414.

FEB. 3

ART SHOW & GALA, 6:30 p.m, Hyatt Regency Houston West (13210 Katy Fwy., Houston).

“Encounter Beauty Sacred Heart Show and Gala” benefits St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School. 6:30 p.m. cocktail hour and art show.

7:30 p.m. dinner, performances and live auction.

More info: seascs.org/seascs-gala.

FEB. 6

MASS OF CONSECRATED LIFE, 11 a.m, CoCathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 San Jacinto, Houston). Daniel Cardinal DiNardo is celebrant. Consecrated men and women assemble to express its gratitude for the gift of Consecrated Life. The Mass will be livestreamed at sacredhearthouston.org.

SPAGHETTI DINNER, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Guardian Angel (5610 Demel St., Wallis).

Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court

PHOTO COURTESY OF KPC COUNCIL 248 OF ST. BENEDICT THE ABBOT CATHOLIC CHURCH

The Knights of Peter Claver, Council 248 of St. Benedict the Abbot Catholic Church, honored the parish’s clergy with a special holiday luncheon. Pictured from left to right are Knight John Boxie, Father Brandon Nguyen, Father Joseph Huy Dinh, Knight Louis Carrier, Deacon David Johnson, Knight Walter Turner and Knight Roland Castex. Dialogue during the luncheon resulted in plans to work more closely with the clergy to address specific needs of the church and the community.

Raising Awareness & Support for Catholic Education Queen of Angels #1538 hosts its annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser, $10 plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, green beans and garlic bread from Ben’s Chuck Wagon. $15 cheese rolls also available. Raffle drawing at 1 p.m. Presale tickets available. More info: 832259-1917.

FEB. 12

JOIN US ON

FEBRUARY 12, 2022 AT THE CO-CATHEDRAL OF THE SACRED HEART

HEART OF WORSHIP, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., St. Laurence (3100 Sweetwater Blvd., Sugar Land).

Full day of spiritual renewal and restoration featuring Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers with talks, music, Mass, Adoration and dinner. $30/ person, open to everyone sixth grade and older. Register: www.stlaurence.org/HOW GALA, 6 to 9 p.m., Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School (10114 Hwy 6, Hitchcock). Church hosts Viva El Amor! Gala with a dinner and complimentary drink, entertainment by Ballet Folklorico performers, dancing and an opportunity to bid on delicious desserts as well as silent auction prizes. Free parking. More info: 409-925-3224, ololcs.org.

FEB. 16

LENTEN REFLECTIONS, 8:30 a.m., St. Paul the Apostle (188223 Point Lookout, Nassau Bay).

The Bay Area Deanery Council of Catholic Women hosts “Lenten Reflections” led by Jason Honeycutt, director of faith formation at St. Bernadette Catholic Church. 8:30 am Mass, 9:30 social with refreshments, 10 a.m. reflections.

Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the Adoration Chapel. More info: Terry Kelley, 281827-4232.

••• To find additional listings online, visit the website at WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.

ONLY $20 PER TIMED RUNNER!

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