July / August 2021

FOR THE GOOD

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is beyond my ability to fully grasp that we have now been in the midst of a global pandemic for well over a year. That means two complete Lenten and Easter seasons without our parishes functioning at 100 percent. Had any of us been asked 18 months ago, this would have been impossible to imagine!

However, together we will get through this challenge, in fact, we get closer by the day. As you know by now, we lifted the dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation on Pentecost (May 23), the birthday of the Church. Now for us, this is a day of rebirth for the Church in Southeast Texas. Easter brought so much joy for many who felt comfortable to come back to their parish for the first time in well over a year. Your parish priests, many laity and health care professionals agreed that it was time to lift the dispensation. However, it is always good to note that Church law does not oblige the impossible or unreasonable: “If it is impossible to assist at a Eucharistic celebration, either because no sacred minister is available or for some other grave reason, the faithful are strongly recommended to take part in a liturgy of the word.” (Code of Canon Law, 1248) Persons who are sick, hospitalized, vulnerable and homebound are not obliged to attend, but are still called to honor the Lord’s Day with particular reverence and prayer (as hopefully all of you have been doing this past year!).

So yeah, it’s time to get back to Mass, for we need to be fed by the Eucharist and strengthened by the Christian community — I for one am very excited! As I have gone around to our parishes a second time to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation during the Easter season, it has been a beautiful time to reconnect with so many of you as I continue to get to know our diocese better and better. I so love our small parish families, priests, deacons, religious and our community at large. In particular, I am so impressed by the generosity of the faithful of our diocese. YOU are involved in so many ways, and I so look forward to seeing our diocese in full swing in a post pandemic world!

In this edition of the ETC Magazine, we are highlighting the ministries that you support through the Bishop’s Faith Appeal (BFA). These are challenging times, but the needs of our communities are just as great. YOU have responded heroically and generously to serve the needs of the poor, to re-evangelize our community, to minister to the incarcerated and to strengthen the marriage, family and youth programs of our diocese. In addition, we are working tirelessly to promote vocations to the priest-hood, diaconate and consecrated life in the Church. YOU are a part of all of these ministries (and more) as you support the BFA. This collection is certainly not about me, but it is about each of US ministering together throughout Southeast Texas. To that end, and after more than 20 years, we are going to rebrand the BFA to remind people the meaning behind the collection — Appeal for Catholic Ministries: Building the Kingdom Together (ACM for short). More to come about this later, but at least this introduces next year’s change and reminds us that it is always about our outreach, charity and service as a Catholic community of faith.

This has been a challenging 18 months for all of us, but together we are getting through it and moving to a brighter future, a future filled with hope as we celebrate the rebirth of the Church in Southeast Texas and move forward with faith, hope and love as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Bishop David L. Toups