Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The masses this weekend will be celebrated to give praise to God for bringing us through a brutal week of winter. The power is back on for many in our community and the water pressure has returned to many homes . We are very thankful that we have had minimal damage due to several pipes bursting on the church complex, and we have been very diligent to have those issues addressed in order to have services this weekend.
Let us all keep in our prayers all those who have been affected by the winter storms, and continue to reach out with our help and services to all those who have been impacted.
We walk with Jesus in this season of lent. Before the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, he spends forty days alone with the wild beasts and angels in the desert. Jesus’s time in the desert is the last step in his preparation to begin his ministry. Having withstood temptation, he is ready to proclaim the “gospel of God”. As we travel with Jesus through the desert soo to speak, we have to withstand temptation and allow our hearts to be ready to proclaim the good news of God in our lives as well.
This year marks the 150th Anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s decree, Quemadmodum Deus, naming Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus, as the Patron of the Universal Church. In commemoration of this anniversary and recognizing the fitting time for the Church to invoke the intercession of this guardian, His Holiness, Pope Francis has declared this year as a “Year of Saint Joseph” to be observed in the Universal Church from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021.
Pope Leo XIII states in Quamquam Pluries: “The special motives for which St. Joseph has been proclaimed Patron of the Church, and from which the Church looks for singular benefit from his patronage and protection, are that Joseph was the spouse of Mary and that he was reputed the Father of Jesus Christ. From these sources have sprung his dignity, his holiness, his glory, In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty that naught created can rank above it.”
Pope Francis states: “Joseph had the courage to become the legal father of Jesus, to whom he gave the name revealed by the angel: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). As we know, for ancient peoples, to give a name to a person or to a thing, as Adam did in the account in the Book of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was to establish a relationship.”
For 2021, Cardinal DiNardo has assessed our parish DSF goal at $80,000. DSF supports more than 60 ministries and programs that serve the faithful of the Archdiocese and us here at St. Hyacinth. Thank you in your generosity in supporting DSF 2021.
FORMED is the revolutionary digital online platform that gives STHY unprecedented access to video-based study programs, feature films, audio presentations, and eBooks from the Church’s foremost presenters. With your free access to FORMED, 24/7 on your television, smart phone, laptop, I-pad, or Kindle, you can: Prepare for Mass, study the scriptures, watch religious movies and programs as a family, Enrich your marriage with the award winning video programs, and help your children grow in faith and character with engaging children’s materials. Our parish Password to FORMED.org is 77GVZ3.
With the season of lent, we welcome our Friday Fish Fry sponsored by our Knights of Columbus. On Fridays during Lent, the K of Cs will make available delicious fish dinners that will be available for pick up . It’s a great testament to stewardship in action, so thank you brother Knights!
Finally on Fridays during Lent, we will have Stations of the Cross that can be viewed virtually on Sthyacinth.org website. I hope many of you will want to spend 30-45 minutes on on Friday with this popular Lenten devotion on line.
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels
