Father’s Notebook - December 10, 2019

Greetings brothers and sisters,

Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.” This weekend we find ourselves halfway through Advent and we rejoice because the time for the Lord to come is quickly coming upon us! 

We rejoice because we have joy! True joy comes from God and not external things. True joy comes from knowing that at the foundation of our being, we are loved. It is this deep knowledge (rather than a feeling) in our heart and soul that bears fruit in joy. This is why even in hard times (when we feel sadness or pain), there can still be Christian joy.

One of the ways of coming to this deep knowledge of God is by going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In confession, we have an opportunity to encounter the mercy of God who gazes on our sin and hurts and speaks his words of mercy and love. 

“The Lord does not wish the sinner to die but to turn back to him and live. Come before him with trust in his mercy.” - Ezekiel 33:11

This week, we have our Advent Penance Service here Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Wednesday, December 18th at 7:00pm. The priests of the deanery have all been invited and are ready to be instruments of God’s mercy as you prepare for Christmas.

This weekend we had each parishioner fill out a “Master Plan Questionnaire” to listen to the thoughts of every parishioner. If you happened to be away from the parish this past weekend, you still have a few days to fill out the survey online. Please go to our parish website for more info: www.mhtangleton.org

As we move forward with creating a Master Plan for our parish, I would like to speak about why exactly we are doing this now. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is currently in the last phases of their capital campaign called Ignite, in which all parish are expected to be involved in. Most Holy Trinity is supposed to begin this campaign in 2020. Fr. Victor had spoken with the finance council over a year ago, and they had decided that a joint or combined capital campaign would be most beneficial for our parish, of which I agree. With the combined capital campaign, we are expected to raise a smaller guaranteed amount ($318K) vs a larger “good faith” amount ($475K). By doing a combined capital campaign, we also would not have to wait the archdiocesan-required 4 years before doing our own capital campaign.

In this way, we are able to address current needs, while at the same time, fulfilling our responsibilities to the needs of the Archdiocese. 

My desire is not to build for the sake of building. As a wise priest once said, “you must always build community before you build buildings.” That is still my goal. I hope is that, with your help, we can look with vision into the future and see not only the possibilities of our church campus, but also see the potential of our church community at Most Holy Trinity. 

You are in my prayers, and I ask for your prayers for me, the staff at MHT, and the Master Planning Committee who is assisting me in this process.

Pax Christi,

Fr. Khoi