Welcome!
Welcome to St Catherine of Siena Parish! If you are looking for a church to enliven and deepen your faith, be part of a friendly, easy-going community, or would like to get involved in one of our ministries or begin a new one, I believe you may well have found the parish for which you’ve been looking!
Introduce yourself to me in the narthex before or after Mass – I’m always the first to arrive and the last to leave. I have a very good memory for faces, and in time, I will even remember your name! To get to know your fellow parishioners, come to our Saturday evening refreshments immediately after the Mass or Sunday breakfast after the 8.30 Mass. This is usually held on the weekend of the first Sunday of the month during the school year. Notification of any and all activities is in the parish bulletin which you’ll find here online. This allows us to keep our tradition of keeping Mass completely announcement-free.
As part of our charitable outreach, we donate 10% of our annual income to charities nominated by the parishioners during Lent each year. We have a food drive for a local shelter every month, and as you get to know us, you’ll discover all the other ways we are church, live our faith and serve our neighbors.
Father Niall
Weekly Message from Father Niall
Dear Friends,
As I am writing this, we have a lot of rain forecast, so I hope you all fared well out of it and you didn’t have to resort to a kayak or any other mode of water transport. One of those experiences in a lifetime is more than enough – oh, the memories! This Monday, September 23 is officially the first day of fall, which I hope is the beginning of cooler temperatures and gentler weather in general. I think we are all ready for a change of pace.
On a very positive note, last week we got through our first Saturday Evening Mingle and Sunday Breakfast without any major hitch. There may have been a couple of little hiccups as we were getting used to the new space and equipment, but I think that goes with the territory! I was so glad to see that many of you came to view your newly refurbished kitchen. It will now enable us to extend greater hospitality to each other, and to those who come here for both happy times and sad ones, as we continue to accompany one another on the journey of life. The serving of breakfast to the CCE children/youth first worked like a charm and it even got them to their classes on time – wonders never cease!
Up and on with life holy ones!
Fr. Niall
About St. Catherine Catholic Church
Our History
On May 14, 1975, Bishop John Morkovsky issued a formal Declaration establishing the parish of St. Catherine of Siena to help provide for the corporal and spiritual welfare of the growing west Houston community with Fr. Cliff Natho being assigned as the founding pastor.
Until the completion of construction (3 years later), Sunday Masses were celebrated in neighboring churches and schools, including Congregation Beth Am Synagogue, Spring Oaks Junior High, and Fairhaven United Methodist Church.
The initial construction was completed in 1978, and included the community center (which doubled as the sanctuary), the offices and classrooms. The present sanctuary was completed in 1993 and stands as a living testament to the generous spirit of the people who gather to worship God under the patronage of St. Catherine of Siena. At the 25th anniversary celebration in 2000, our beautiful prayer plaza garden was dedicated by Auxiliary Bishop Curtis J. Guillory.
Born small and committed to growth in the Holy Spirit, the parish family of St. Catherine of Siena continues to blossom in what was once a distant Spring Branch prairie but is now part of Houston’s ever-expanding metropolis. From the beginning, this community has fostered a loving, welcoming family spirit. And as with most families, the sharing of food occupies a very important place in all our gatherings; so don’t be startled if someone offers you a cup of coffee and a doughnut. It’s just who we are.
Our Patron
St Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380)
Born in 1347, St. Catherine of Siena was the twenty-third child born to Jacopo and Lapa Benincasa. Recognized as a lovely and highly intelligent youth, she was filled with a joyous spirit from an early age.
However, no one expected this lovely young girl to become one of the great mystical doctors of the Church. Yet, it was early in life that she demonstrated an uncommon desire to surrender herself completely to Christ. It is due to this desire and her willingness to live it completely that she is remembered and celebrated today. At the age of eighteen, she entered the Dominican Third Order and spent three years in seclusion and prayer. A group of followers gathered around her—men and women (lay and religious) – and an active public apostolate grew out of her contemplative life.
But it was during the Great Schism (beginning in 1378) which split the allegiance of Christendom between first two, then three popes that Catherine became most notable. She spent the last two years of her life in Rome, in prayer and pleading on behalf of the unity of the Church and arguing for the legitimacy of Urban VI. In 1380, she died at the age of 33. She was canonized in 1461.
Along with Theresa of Avila, St. Catherine was named a doctor of the church in 1970 by Paul VI. Her most famous work, The Dialogue, contains an ecstatic vision of a conversation between a soul (who rises to heaven) and God. This mystical work is often called her spiritual testament.
She is the patron of Italy and Europe.