COMMUNITY NEWS & UPDATES
Sunday, September 27, 2020 - Week 26 in Ordinary Time
Holy Ones,
Now that the number of people attending Mass on Saturday at 4:00pm and 11:00am on Sunday is beginning to reach our maximum of 65 persons (Sunday at 8:00am is about 30 people), please do your best not to double book. If you inadvertently do, just email me (frniall@stcatherine-houston.org) and I will delete the extra “ghost person” from the list, thus freeing a place for someone else. The online booking program automatically closes and disappears from the parish webpage as soon as it reaches 65 registrations. Should you not be able to attend at the last minute (calamities and emergencies are never planned) or are delayed, please email me. This will allow me to begin Mass on time and not wait until the last minute at the door thinking you are on your way. Your email will come to my cell phone which is in my pocket. Such are the vagaries of navigating this new-online Mass registration process as we all try to keep a smooth- running ship for one and all.
During this semi-down time here at the parish, we have availed of same by replacing the sound system in the church sanctuary with a state-of-the-art one. The old sound system has done us well; it has been here since the church was built over 40 years ago, but that technology has moved light years ahead of where it was then. Now, when we get to experience it is another question; I personally don’t see that happening in the immediate future, but rest assured, we are more than ready for the “great return” of us Covid-19 exiles whenever that may be.
The alarm system has got an update as well; and dare I say it was a much needed one. This was prompted by the late-night visit (aka a break-in) of an unwelcome visitor a few weeks ago. A couple of windows were smashed, but nothing was stolen; someone was most likely looking for cash, which we never keep on the premises, by the way; but it was the general mess that was created that caused the most aggravation and annoyance. This incident highlighted a couple of vulnerabilities in the old alarm system which has been replaced and brought up to date.
Office files and records have finally been updated and cleaned out too; we had a shredding truck come and shred 5 large bins of records that went back as far as Old-God’s time which no body over the years had the time or inclination to do. I don’t want to bore you with any more details and put you to shame as you think of what you could have/should have done with that extra time on your hands when you had it.
As I think of the time some of you don’t have any more (thankfully, you might say) because of school-related activities and a general settling into the “new normal,” please don’t forget that the CCE homework pick-up and drop-off is next Sunday, October 4, from 10:00 – 11:00am.
Last, but not least, cooler weather is here at long last. This means many of us (me particularly) have no excuse for not getting out and continuing with the “battle of the bulge” and forcing oxygenated air to the brain and heart. I am actually looking forward to donning my running shoes after all these hot months and hitting the pavement again before the sun rises. I will be very happy to greet my “early morning risers” whom I have missed and get my poor old body on the move again.
Till next week …
God bless,
Fr. Niall
Saint Catherine and a Follower by Andrea Vanni,
Community announcements
Our heartfelt condolences are extended to friends and family of
Lodie Payne who died Thursday, September 24th.
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, says the Lord, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world”
Matthew 25:34
About St. Catherine Catholic Church
Our History
Our History
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 wer
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
Our History
Our History
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
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.