News - December 2020 RSS Feed

Mi oración para ti esta Navidad es que tengas una feliz y bendita Navidad sabiendo que Jesucristo nacido en Belén es la luz para nuestras vidas. Que nos ilumine a todos esta Navidad.

2020 has been a year of challenges. Planning how or whether the Diocese of Corpus Christi could still host the Annual Angel Tree Children Christmas party was highest on the list of challenges. 

Maria Teresa Reyna and Leticia Roman representatives of the Schoenstatt rosary group in Banquete will be delivering 327 beanies, socks and gloves to the homeless at the Mother Teresa Shelter on Christmas Day. All 17 women in the rosary group are from St. Michael the Archangel Parish.

Father Ray Yrlas, Pastor of Sacred Heart in Rockport and Mrs. Gloria Scott, Office Manager, take the first crack at tearing down what used to be their office. Several buildings on the Sacred Heart campus were severely damaged due to Hurricane Harvey which hit the Coast of Texas on August 25, 2017. 

To celebrate the Christmas season, Catholic pilgrimage company Verso Ministries has published “Christmas Around the World,” an at-home pilgrimage guide. Available as a free download on their website at www.versoministries.com/christmas. The 28-page e-book features Christmas traditions of eight different countries, including the West Bank, Italy, Philippines, France, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal.

Just a few years ago, Centurion Night of Worship was a small gathering in the chapel with typically less than fifty people in attendance. However, 2020 gave the event a major face lift. Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, many of our usual events, such as weekly Mass and reconciliation or class retreats, were just not possible. But where there’s God’s will, there’s a way.

Promptly at 8 a.m. cars began lining up in front of 614 Oliver Court to participate in Catholic Charities’ Community Christmas Drive-Thru. The line of cars continued around the corner onto Leopard Street where people in pain, sick, or just down on their luck had arrived early to receive Bishop Michael Mulvey’s blessing and a Christmas meal in a box on Dec. 15.

Christmas is going to be different this year. It will be a somber and perhaps mournful season, for those suffering from the multiple effects of the pandemic. For many of us, however, this could be our best Christmas ever. We have every reason to skip the frantic shopping and awkward gatherings that cause us stress during the Christmas season. 

During November and December, over 100 students from St. Pius X Catholic School have participated in beautifying their schools’ Prayer Garden. 

Tocar, es un acto profundamente íntimo. Tocar físicamente a alguien implica una intención: “Quiero acercarme a ti”. Tocar transmite una especie de calidez de una persona a otra. El contacto de una persona con otra sugiere un cierto nivel de confianza y seguridad en la otra. También implica una vulnerabilidad en quienes se están tocando.

Touching is a deeply intimate act. Physically touching someone implies a certain objective: “I want to get closer to you.” Touching transmits a kind of warmth from one person to another. The touch of one person to another suggests a certain level of trust and confidence in the other. It also implies a vulnerability in those who are touching.

In my few years of ministry, I have found it humbling and inspiring to share in the joys and sorrows of the families to whom I minister. Whether it be witnessing a couple’s love and outlook on life as I prepare them for marriage, or see their love made manifest in their child brought forth to the waters of baptism or to be with spouses as they say their farewell at death. What is evident is their love for one another. You yourself have probably participated in these many sacred moments, you too have witnessed how marriage is the closest and most intimate of all human friendships that reflects the love of God.

Las Hermanas Rency Moonjely y Sibi Varghese, Hermanas de la Adoración del Santísimo Sacramento, han sido llamadas a cuidar de nuestros hermanos y hermanas sin hogar que frecuentan el Refugio Madre Teresa. Las hermanas de su congregación se esfuerzan por difundir el amor eucarístico a través de sus actividades apostólicas; para las hermanas Rency y Sibi, es trabajando con las personas sin hogar. ​​​​​​​

Ministry and Life Enrichment for Persons with Disabilities, a Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi program, welcomed some 120 clients at the Heart of Christmas Drive-thru, held in the parking lot of St. John Paul II High School Campus and Immaculate Conception Chapel on Dec. 5. 

Instead of spending all day with family and friends during the pandemic, many donors, volunteers and businesses donated some of their time, talent and funds to help the needy enjoy a Thanksgiving luncheon on Nov. 26 at the Mother Teresa Shelter.

Students from Sacred Heart School in Rockport created nativity scenes for a religion STREAM assignment. The class assignments were to be done online during the week of Nov. 30.

Sisters Rency Moonjely and Sibi Varghese, Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, have been called to care for our homeless brothers and sisters who frequent the Mother Teresa Shelter. Sisters in their congregation endeavor to spread Eucharistic love through their apostolic activities – for Sisters Rency and Sibi, it’s through their work with the homeless. 

With love being the Church’s DNA, there are many different ways to love, and everyone can live this out in their own way. The bishop discussed four characteristics of God’s love. Of these four ways, I have found myself loving my students where they are at in their academics and personal lives.

Their world has been rocked. Their lives have been turned upside down. Their connections and encounters, with others, have been robbed by debilitating isolation. Their feelings of community have been shattered. Their sense of time distorted. Their minds and hearts are fraught with the unknown and frequent despair. This is the immediate world our youth struggle and attempt to navigate through during the ever-looming pandemic crisis. Still, they yearn for a different reality. Though the anxiety and loneliness rages on, they embrace that tiny but ever-critical glimmer of hope. Perhaps it is the hope that Pope Francis speaks of: “Let us never set conditions for God; let us instead allow hope to conquer our fears.” 

The Diocese of Corpus Christi will hold the Retirement Fund for Religious collection Dec. 12-13. The National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) coordinates this annual appeal and distributes the proceeds to assist eligible U.S. religious communities with their retirement needs. Nearly 30,000 senior sisters, brothers and religious order priests benefit.