Texas Catholic Herald - March 14, 2023

ISLAND FLAVORS

Try this Filipino meatless recipe courtesy of the CRS Rice Bowl project

▪ SEE PAGE 3

LENTEN REFLECTIONS

Need a Lenten pick me up?

Our columnists are here with tips and more

▪ SEE PAGES 13 & 14

ROUMIE’S LENT

‘The Chosen’s Jonathan Roumie on fasting, faith and his new film

▪ SEE PAGE 18

Pope from ‘ends of the earth’ brings new style to Rome

Proclaiming the Good News to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston since 1964

March 13 marks a decade of Pope

Francis’s papacy

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Right from the start, upon his election, Pope Francis presented a whole new style of being pontiff.

The way he spoke to the vast crowd after his election March 13, 2013, was familial and down-to-earth, beginning with,“Brothers and sisters, good evening,” and ending with “We’ll see each other soon!” and “Have a good night and sleep well!”

He repeatedly referred to himself as “bishop of Rome,”which eventually ended up being his sole title in the “Annuario Pontificio,” the Vatican yearbook, and would be another sign of his vision for renewal by promoting a more collegial and decentralized church.

And his invitation to the crowd on

See FRANCIS, page 11

Cardinal DiNardo adds some spiritual ‘meat’ to St. Patrick’s Day dispensations

HOUSTON (OSV News) — With St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Lenten Friday this year, many U.S. bishops have joined Daniel Cardinal DiNardo in issuing dispensations from abstinence on March 17, allowing the faithful to enjoy the Irish American tradition of eating corned beef (or ham) and cabbage in good conscience.

But a number of bishops have added some “meat” to those orders by commuting, rather than dispensing with entirely, the obligation — making it conditional upon performing acts of prayer and charity and giving Catholics something additional to chew on in the process.

In a March 3 message to the faithful of the Archdiocese, Cardinal DiNardo decreed that on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, “all Catholics of the Archdiocese of

See ST. PATRICK, page 2

COMPLETING THE WALK

A‘fitting tribute’: Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza announced

Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — After responding to numerous challenges over the last 15 years – including Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic – the Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston is moving forward to complete the master plan for the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart first developed over two decades ago.

The Archdiocese will redevelop the block directly south of the Co-Cathedral building across St. Joseph Parkway, renaming it The Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza. The project will add new green space, new parking for 144 vehicles, as well as a public gathering and tribute area.

“It is most fitting to honor Archbishop Fiorenza’s memory and create a beautiful gathering space for the parishioners of Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral,” Daniel Cardinal DiNardo said.

Following consultation and preparation with the

See PLAZA, page 4

‘BE FAITHFUL TO YOUR BAPTISMAL COVENANT’

PHOTOS BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Above, at left, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo reads the names written in a Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston Feb. 26. Four Rites of Election were held around the Archdiocese, with at least 1,758 set to join or enter full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. FOR MORE, SEE STORY AND PHOTOS ON PAGE 5.

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF STUDIO RED ARCHITECTS

A rendering depicts a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a landscaping in a close-up view of the new Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza project at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston.

Meat on a Friday in Lent?

Thanks to St. Patrick, yes, this time you can

Galveston-Houston, no matter where they may be, and all other Catholics present in the Archdiocese on that day, are, by my authority, dispensed from the obligation to abstain from meat.”

Cardinal DiNardo continued: “while it is not required that anyone make use of this dispensation, those who do wish to make use of it are encouraged to do an extra act of charity or penance in exchange for eating meat on that day.”

The moves, provided for under Canon 87 of the Code of Canon Law, aim to balance the festive nature of the day — an optional memorial in the Church’s Roman Calendar — with the penitential season of Lent, during which Catholics ages 14 to 60 are required to abstain from meat on Fridays.

“It is well known that St. Patrick’s Day is a day of convivial celebration for many American Catholics,” said Wilton Cardinal Gregory of Washington in his Feb. 2 decree, while Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh pointed to “the great impact which St. Patrick has made not only on the people of Ireland but especially in our own diocese.”

At the same time, bishops were careful to stress the need to retain a Lenten spirit amid celebrations of St. Patrick. Patricius, a Romanized Britain of the fifth century, was enslaved by Irish raiders for six years, experienced a personal conversion, and then returned to evangelize that land’s preChristian peoples with the Gospel.

In his “Confessio,” St. Patrick wrote that as a youth, he “would pray up to 100 times” a day, “and at night perhaps the same.”The “Apostle of Ireland” laid the groundwork for Christianity to take root among the Irish, countless numbers of whom ultimately brought the Catholic faith to different parts of the globe over the centuries.

For Irish American Catholics, the tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage (or variants of the dish) around St. Patrick’s Day recalls the sufferings of their immigrant ancestors who fled famine, poverty and repression in Ireland under British colonial rule marked by anti-Irish racism and antiCatholic persecution.

The most notable example is

LENTEN RESOURCES

For more resources, such as prayer guides, reflections and to read Pope Francis’s Lenten message, visit ARCHGH.ORG/LENT or scan the QR code.

the Great Hunger (1845 to 1852) when British authorities insisted on exporting foodstuffs out of Ireland even as a potato blight wiped out most of the potato crop.

A million Irish consequently died of starvation, while another million emigrated to America. Irish Catholic refugees and migrants swelled the ranks of the Catholic Church in the U.S., and over time, the eating of corned beef and cabbage for their descendants became symbolic of their story of freedom and a new life in America.

“The corned beef to me reaches back to our ancestors, the first in our families who came to the U.S. And I think the bishops look at that big picture,” Daniel O’Connell, president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, America’s oldest Irish Catholic fraternal organization, told OSV News. “They recognize that Catholics in America are (honoring those) who got starved out of Ireland.”

Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee said while “feast day in the Church means what it says ... (and) calls for celebratory feasting,” Catholics observing St. Patrick’s Day “are encouraged to engage in another

sacrificial or charitable act that day or give up meat on another day.”

Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, gave some of the most detailed conditions for his dispensation, requiring the faithful to choose between making a pilgrimage or visiting any church in that diocese named in honor of St. Patrick; assisting at Mass on March 17; praying the “Breastplate of St. Patrick” prayer (attributed to the saint); engaging in a pious devotion such as the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross or Eucharistic Adoration; or “(performing) an act of comparable penance,” such as abstaining from meat at some point during the third week of Lent. †

▪ POPE FRANCIS REFLECTS ON ST. PATRICK

“May St. Patrick’s spiritual strength inspire you to be consistent in your faith; may his faith in Christ the Savior sustain you at the most difficult times; and may his missionary devotion remind you of the importance of Christian education for your children.”

Nearly 50 men are currently in formation to become the next generations of priests at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. These men spend anywhere from 5 to 7 years preparing for their Ordination to the Priesthood.

To read more about our seminarians and how you can support them, scan the QR code, at left, with your phone’s camera or visit www.archgh.org/smseminary.

Publishing since 1964 (USPS 936-480)

THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON

NEWSDESK

713-652-8215 • Fax: 713-659-3444

tch@archgh.org • archgh.org/tch

CIRCULATION

tdieli@archgh.org • 713-652-4444

ADVERTISING ads@archgh.org • 713-652-4407

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

Archbishop, President & Publisher

Jonah Dycus

Communications Director & Executive Editor

Rebecca Torrellas

Managing Editor

James Ramos

Designer & Multimedia Journalist

Catherine Viola

Graphic Designer & Ad Manager

Jo Ann Zuñiga

Contributor

The Texas Catholic Herald, an awardwinning member of The Catholic Media Association, is published semi-monthly on Tuesdays, with one issue in June, July and August, by The Texas Catholic Herald Publishing Co., Inc., 1700 San Jacinto St., Houston, TX 77002.

Periodical postage paid at Houston, TX and other distribution points.

Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 907, Houston, TX 77001

Subscription rate: $15 per year; $20 outside Texas; $35 out of U.S.

TCH publishing schedule

Issue date: March 28

Deadline: Noon on March 7

Issue date: April 11

Deadline: Noon on March 21

You make the ministry of our future Priests possible.

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

A tile wall depicts St. Patrick at St. Patrick Catholic Church, part of Holy Family Parish of Galveston and Bolivar. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo has issued a dispensation from abstinence on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, in the Archdiocese.

BRIEFS A Lenten Culinary Tour: A meatless meal from Asia

Continuing this Lenten season, we’re excited to bring you a new easy-to-make meatless recipes from around the world during the Lenten season.

This week, Catholic Relief Service’s (CRS) Rice Bowl program highlights a popular dish from The Philippines, a Southeastern Asian country home to 116.4 million people.

An archipelago of islands between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, the Philippines is east of Vietnam.

In the Philippines, farmers are learning about the importance of

helped families overcome the challenges nutrition. Turn in your

diversifying their livelihoods in order to improve their sources of income and nutrition for their families. With its location near the equator and on the Pacific Ring of Fire, The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, with an average of 20 typhoons per year, as well as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

In this meat-free recipe, butternut squash and long beans shine in this coconut milk-based stew. It is an opportunity for families to experience

new cultures through new ingredients and flavors.

As we abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, journey with us around the world and incorporate these Lenten recipes into your meatless Fridays. Give the money you saved each week by not eating meat — about $3 per person per meal — to your CRS Rice Bowl to feed those in need around the world.

For more information and other free recipes, including videos, visit www. crsricebowl.org/recipe. †

Ginataang Gulay - The Philippines

30 MINUTES 4 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 2-3 cups of butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

• 2 14-ounce cans of full fat coconut milk

• 1 cup of long beans or regular green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces

• 1-3 Thai chili peppers, or serrano chili peppers, sliced

• Salt to taste

• 4 cups of steamed white rice

METHOD

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the onion and continue to sauté until soft and translucent. Add the squash and pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, or until the squash is soft. Stir in the green beans. Then add the sliced chili peppers and salt to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the green beans are tender. Serve over steamed white rice.

Café Catholica Lite set for March 16

HOUSTON — The Office for Young Adult and Campus Ministry will host the next Café Catholica Lite at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church, 7810 Cypresswood Dr. in Spring, on Thursday, March 16, from 7 to 8:45 p.m. The speaker is PJ Lozano from Ablaze Ministries, and his talk will be “Missionary Purpose: Finding Your Own Calcutta.” The night will include light snacks, the talk, a Q&A and communal prayer. The talk will be available to

www.crsricebowl.org

Subscribe to the Texas Catholic Herald

10:31

or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

On Fridays we fry fish!

Need plans for Friday’s dinner? See where the fish frys are in and around the Archdiocese. ▪ SEE PAGE 19

Rector: Plaza project honors Archbishop Fiorenza’s legacy to Church, Galveston-Houston

MORE ONLINE

Archdiocese, the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart announced the plaza plan to their parish community during Masses on Feb. 26.

“The project takes account of the needs of the Co-Cathedral parish and mission to the Archdiocese while paying fitting tribute to Archbishop Fiorenza and his legacy in the Church and in the Houston community,” said Father Jeff Bame, CoCathedral of the Sacred Heart rector.

In 1958, Bishop Wendelin Nold was instructed by Pope Paul VI to designate a “co-cathedral” of convenience in preparation for 1959’s designation of the city of Houston as an episcopal see and the renaming of the Diocese of Galveston to the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.

Sacred Heart Church was chosen by Bishop Nold due to its proximity to the newly acquired downtown chancery offices for the diocese.

never been constructed for this purpose — it was a small parish church that has been retrofitted many times over its history.

In 2000, Archbishop Fiorenza announced the intention to construct a true co-cathedral church fitting for its mission, culminating in the dedication of the new Co-Cathedral of the Sacred

For more information, including other renderings, about the Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Plaza, visit SACREDHEARTHOUSTON.ORG/PLAZA or scan the QR code above.

Heart by Cardinal DiNardo on April 2, 2008. Archbishop Fiorenza died Sept. 19, 2022. He was 91.

Throughout his priesthood, the pastoral care Archbishop Fiorenza brought to countless disadvantaged and underserved communities, combined with his fierce and relentless commitment to social justice, served to improve the human condition throughout the Houston region and beyond.

As Archbishop Fiorenza once said, “to separate faith from action essentially is not biblical, nor is it Catholic.”

For information about the Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza project, visit www. sacredhearthouston.org/plaza. †

rendering depicts

the new Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza project at the

of the Sacred Heart in Houston. A rendering depicts a birds’ eye view of the recently announced Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza Plaza project at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. The new plaza will be located south of the Co-Cathedral and will be bound by Jefferson, Fannin, Pierce and San Jacinto streets and include a pedestrian-friendly plaza near the entrance of the Co-Cathedral on Jefferson Street.

Journeying to Easter: Rite of Election held at four parishes

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — Name by name, the 1,820 registered candidates and catechumens of the Archdiocese were announced during four Rite of Election celebrations on Feb. 26 held around the Archdiocese. Pew by pew, hundreds stood up as their names were called, a visible sign of their commitment to enter fully in to the Catholic Church as a candidate or catechumen.

Traditionally held on the first Sunday of Lent, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, celebrated the Rite of Election for those preparing to enter the Catholic Church at Easter.

The Rites were celebrated bilingually in English and Spanish at the CoCathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in Spring, Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in northwest Houston and Mary Queen Catholic Church in Friendswood. Roughly 4,000 attended the celebrations.

At the four parishes, during the Rite of Election, the catechumens — those who will be Baptized, Confirmed and receive their First Communion this Easter — are presented with their godparents to the bishops and the faith community. The faithful taking this next step in their journey represented a cross-section of the Archdiocese, diverse in age, race, ethnicity and background, with many families and young people alike standing as their names were called.

After the catechumens publicly affirmed their intention to join the Church, the bishops, on behalf of the Church, accept or “elect” them as being ready to take part in the Sacraments of Initiation.

Slowly, catechist leaders from dozens of parishes lined up in front of the church altars, holding open their Book of the Elect containing the names of those from their parishes. Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop Dell’Oro viewed these names, with Cardinal DiNardo thumbing through the pages, complimenting and encouraging the catechists on their efforts to lead the faithful at their parishes.

After the rites, both Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop Dell’Oro signed pages upon pages of Books of the Elect, recognizing the names and journeys of the candidates and catechumens.

Following the Rite of Election, the catechumens, now known as “the elect,” begin a period of purification and enlightenment, which is the final, intense preparation for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil.

At Christ the Redeemer, Bishop Dell’Oro encouraged a full-throated response from the catechumens, elect and their sponsors during the celebration of the elect. A paltry “we do” became a boom that echoed throughout the lofty church.

Also celebrated was the Call to Continuing Conversion, which presents the candidates, or those who were already baptized in other Christian traditions recognized by the Catholic Church, who desire to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

During this Rite, Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop Dell’Oro remind the candidates and their sponsors that “Christian life and the demands that flow from the Sacraments cannot be taken lightly.”

In a message to his parish, Father Sean Horrigan, pastor at Christ the Redeemer, encouraged his parishioners to walk with the candidates and catechumens “as they all journey to the table of the Lord.”

“Let us dare to walk with them and ask the Lord guide us all into a more perfect

union with the Father,” he said.

At the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Father Jeff Bame, rector of the Co-Cathedral, said “these rites play out in our midst in the life of the Church” and “remind us to pray for our elect and candidates and to accompany them as

they come down this stretch (to come into the Church via the Sacraments at Easter).

During Easter Vigil Masses on Saturday, April 8, and throughout the Easter season, at least 1,820 people from parishes across the Archdiocese are registered to enter into the Catholic Church. †

PHOTOS BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Above, at left, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo reads the names written in a Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston Feb. 26. Four Rites of Election were held around the Archdiocese, with at least 1,820 registered to join or enter full communion with the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Above, at right, Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, signs a Book of the Elect after presiding over a Rite of Election at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in northwest Houston Feb. 26.

Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, reads the names of catechumens and candidates written in a Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Houston Feb. 26.

Trail rides rustle up Texas history for parishes, schools

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — With a keen and careful eye, Taylor Reilly kept watch over groups of wandering students clad in their best Western wear. The sound of small cowboy and cowgirl boots on an asphalt parking lot at St. Ambrose Catholic School near The Heights were quickly drowned out by squeals of delight as the Sam Houston Trail Ride circled their wagons.

Reilly, academic dean at St. Ambrose, joined her crew of other teachers and staff in wrangling their students to greet the trail riders and their horses (and donkeys and dogs).

Annually on Go Texan Day, this year Feb. 24, the Sam Houston Trail Ride stops for lunch at the school. The Prairie View Trail Ride, one of two groups that promote Black Western heritage, also passes St. Ambrose on Go Texan Day, with the two joining the other 11 trail ride groups trekking into Houston for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

A hat-tip to Texas history, the annual city-wide designation rallies communities across the region to celebrate Texas heritage and signals the beginning of the rodeo.

After dismounting their trusty steeds, several of the trail riders walk their horses over to the edges of the parking lot near anxious and excited students.

wearing a straw cowboy hat screamed while reaching up to pet what was really a horse.

“No, this is a horse,” a classmate corrects him, also gently tapping the horse’s light brown nose.

“It sure is a horse,” said one of the trail riders, stooping to pick up a little girl in a dark teal dress sporting gold, sparkly boots for a closer look.

St. Ambrose Pastor Father Hieu Nguyen joined his students in welcoming the Sam Houston trail ride.

At one point, the priest climbed a horse with a braided sandy blonde mane and waved to his staff and school, eliciting cheers and laughs, unwittingly recalling the roots of the Catholic Church in Texas: the missionary priests on horseback who rode between towns in Texas frontier land to bring the Sacraments to the faithful

some 175 years ago.

Nearly two centuries later, while digital maps help the trail riders course their way through Houston and history, the spirit of the trail ride continues.

Trail ride groups come into Houston from nearly all directions, with most starting their week-long journey on Feb. 18, traveling between 120 and 60 miles.

The Sam Houston group also stayed at Regina Caeli Parish in northwest Houston the night before visiting the students at St. Ambrose.

The Spanish Trail Ride greeted St. Theresa Catholic School students and staff in Memorial Park, while the Salt Grass Trail Ride cheered with those at St. Jerome Catholic School in Spring Branch. Earlier in the trip, the Texas Independence Trail Ride hitched their posts at the Galveston County Fairgrounds next door

to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and School in Hitchcock.

Throughout the rest of the rodeo, which continues until March 19, Catholic school students and parochial members are participating in the region’s largest event and the world’s largest livestock show and rodeo.

Some are showing livestock like chickens, cows and rabbits, others are attending with school or parish groups, and some braver (and helmeted) kiddoes are tackling the white-knuckled, pint-sized rodeo of the mutton-bustin’ tradition, where five- or six-year-old kids grab tight onto sprinting sheep.

Students of all ages seeking a less thrilling ride but with no less talent are also entering the art show, with entries (think charcoal, paint, sculpture and more) as diverse as the city itself. †

PHOTOS BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Students at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Houston watch as the Sam Houston Trail Riders visited the northwest Houston school on Go Texan Day Feb. 24. Based in Montgomery, the trail riders visited the parish before heading to Memorial Park and the annual parade downtown.

St. Peter Catholic – A Career and Technical High School breaks ground

BY JO ANN ZUNIGA Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — Celebrating the creation of Houston’s first Catholic career and technical school, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo welcomed the first admitted students to the school along with donors and members of the school’s board of trustees March 7.

“We are historic. Everyone is watching us so no pressure,” Cardinal DiNardo told the crowd attending the groundbreaking ceremony at St. Peter Catholic – A Career and Technical High School. “But it will succeed in relation to how much we are investing in our youth and Catholic community.”

The 10-acre campus at 6220 La Salette St. and Old Spanish Trail is taking applications for the first class of incoming freshmen to start August 2023 and graduate as the Class of 2027, said the founding principal Dr. Marc Martinez. The school has already accepted 16 new students so far with a goal of starting with 50 or more students.

“We are combining the Archdiocese’s academic excellence with the latest in technological trends to prepare students both academically and for the workforce,” Dr. Martinez said.

Catholic School Superintendent

Dr. Debra Haney said she visited the only other four-year co-educational Catholic vocation high school in the U.S., Mercy Career & Technical School in Philadelphia, as part of the strategic plan for the local business model.

“Since January 2022, we have raised $9.3 million so far and have a little ways to go to raise an additional $2 million as part of our goal,” Haney said. “With God behind us and the Holy Spirit, we know we will make it.”

The Archdiocesan Catholic School Office has been working with the St. Peter Board of Trustees to raise up to $11 million to renovate, furnish and equip the former St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School. The former elementary and middle school shuttered in 2019.

Several donors attended the groundbreaking, including Larry Massey, director of the Scanlan Foundation, members of the Macrini Foundation and officials from Shea Homes, a national

Our Rates Are Up

home build construction company.

Once renovated, the two-story, state-ofthe-art school will focus on information technology and web development; business, marketing, and finance; architecture and construction; education and training; and other major subjects.

The school is designed to accommodate up to 200 students during Phase 1, beginning with an incoming freshman class of 50 students. As enrollment grows, Phase 2 would add a transportation, distribution and logistics career path. Phase 3 would add health, science and pharmacy technology.

Project-based and hands-on learning with current software and technology will help students be professionally

competent in their careers, said St. Peter school board chair Mark Letsos.

Students can go on to associate degree programs, four-year colleges, or they move directly into the workforce with certifications to do jobs that are needed by industry, said Letsos, owner and president of Lambda Specialties, a commercial equipment company.

Three eighth graders from St. Christopher Catholic School, who are among the first students accepted to St. Peter Catholic, participated in the high school’s groundbreaking.

Arturo Alonso, 14 years old, said he plans to study Architecture & Construction and wants to earn a certification in HVAC. Logan Whitley and Daniel Achuo, both 13, are interested in the business, marketing, and finance career path.

“I want to be an accountant and own my own business,” Whitley said.

Future business partnerships can offer internships to students, allowing companies to train students with their own specialized instructors.

St. Peter Catholic — A Career and Technical High School was designed by the Archdiocese and community partners to be affordable to all students and families who are seeking a Catholic secondary education. The school will serve Houston’s Catholic community students and be open to all seeking an alternative to public high school, highcost private school, or charter school.

For more information, including how to apply, visit www.stpeterhs.org †

PHOTO COURTESY OF BROOKSTONE CONSTRUCTION

St. Peter Catholic – A Career and Technical High School officially broke ground March 7 at the 10-acre campus in Houston. Participating in the ceremony are: (left to right) St. Peter board of trustees chair Mark Letsos Jr., principal Dr. Marc Martinez, Catholic Schools Superintendent Dr. Debra Haney, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, St. Peter pastor Father Evaristus Chukwu and incoming school freshmen.

Catholic chaplains bring Christ’s ‘aroma’ to the infirm, aged, imprisoned and dying

BY KERRY MCGUIRE Herald Correspondent

HOUSTON — As Houston continues to grow in various regions, the Catholic Chaplains Corps (CCC) is increasing its efforts to bring Christ’s love and compassion to over 120,000 patients, families and staff located at the Texas Medical Center, The Woodlands and Conroe each year.

“Serving our Catholic sisters and brothers with love and passion who experience varying emotional and spiritual needs is central to CCC’s vision, which is to bring Christ’s aroma to the infirm, aged, imprisoned and dying,” said Romani Perera, director of the CCC, one of more than 60 ministries supported by the 2023 Annual DSF Appeal. “Our mission is to provide an effective sacramental and pastoral care ministry to all regions within the Archdiocese uniformly and efficiently. We have significantly increased the pastoral care and sacramental ministry provided to Catholic religious and laity.”

Perera said the CCC continues to carry out the mission that began in 1960 when Bishop John Markovsky established the ministry. It was expanded in 1967 to include a designated group of Catholic priests whose sole responsibility was to

minister to hospital patients and families. In 2017, under Denice Foose’s leadership, to secure the program’s future viability

Help

For just $10 a month you can provide a needy family with food for an entire month and make a life-saving difference for a family each and every day of the year.

Will you help a vulnerable family in our community by becoming a Hero of Hope monthly donor this Lenten season?

Make

and assist these priests, CCC launched “Pastoral Care Outreach” to recruit lay persons to minister in the role of pastoral visitors.

Perera said over the upcoming year, in collaboration with parishes and Archdiocesan ministries, the CCC will continue to offer education, training and support to clergy and laity to bring Christ’s compassion and love through kindness, joy, prayer and listening presence. According to Father Jojo CalOrtiz, the chaplain priest at Baylor St. Luke/Texas Children’s Hospital, this training has been crucial to CCC accomplishing its mission, which is dependent on the DSF.

“I strongly encourage our faithful to support DSF because, in CCC’s mission, they are already participating in the Church’s work of evangelization in a unique way,” said Father Cal-Ortiz. “The DSF continues to provide the primary financial support of the CCC and its expanding ministries. We are extremely grateful for DSF’s ongoing commitment.”

Kendall Goetzinger, a pastoral visitor in Conroe Regional Hospital, said she also has benefited tremendously from the extensive CCC training, which covers such topics as empathic listening, intercessory prayer and grief. She said this instruction has been invaluable in preparing her to share in the sorrows and joys of the hospital patients she visits.

“The CCC offers encouragement and accompaniment during some of the most difficult times when a patient is hospitalized,” said Goetzinger. “Not only does the CCC minister to patients, but it also ministers to families and staff at our area hospitals. Given the volume of patients and the limited number of priests, it is essential that lay people be trained to help meet the growing need in this area.”

Sister Jean Marie Guokas, C.V.I., with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, recently stayed in the Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Medical Center as a patient. She was pleased and grateful for the care and service she received from CCC’s pastoral

visitors.

“I know that having Mass and Holy Communion has been the most important thing to me my whole time here, and I am grateful for that,” said Sister Guokas. “I will ask my Heavenly Father, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to continue to bless the works that CCC is doing to take care of the sick.”

Robert Goodson, who has recently completed his clinical pastoral education residency at Baylor St. Luke’s Hospital, said he has seen CCC’s program grow and evolve, which he feels has been a godsend.

“It helps me to do my job knowing that I can count on the professionals and all the volunteers at CCC to provide something powerful and meaningful that I cannot,” said Goodson. “This program provides so much to so many people, including comfort to families, and it helps us in our work of spiritual care. I am so grateful for the CCC and hope it continues for years to come.”

If additional DSF support was available, Perera said she would like to increase the number of lay chaplains that help grow the volunteer base of pastoral visitors through recruitment campaigns and education. By assigning them to dedicated institutions and regional campuses, they would offer ongoing support to patients, families and staff, especially during moments of crisis.

Perera said she is very grateful for the partnership CCC has with the Archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry to increase the number of trained bilingual Pastoral Visitors.

Debbie Thomas, an administrative assistant with the CCC, said it is not until a person is standing at the bedside of a loved one feeling helpless that brings a true appreciation of the CCC. Several years ago, her daughter was lifeflighted to a hospital after a severe car accident and received several visits from dedicated and caring pastoral visitors during her long stay. More recently, when her daughter was hospitalized due to a stomach illness for a long stay, she again received daily visits that Thomas said provided a peace that surely surpassed all understanding in these very traumatic situations.

“We are eternally grateful to the

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC CHAPLAINS CORPS

In January, the pastoral visitors at Memorial Hermann, the Texas Medical Center location, gathered for the first time since the COVID-19 and shared their pastoral visitor journeys with one another

The 2023 Diocesan Services Fund theme is “God is the Strength of My Heart.” DSF operates in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston each year to help the Church carry out the ministries of teaching and sanctifying. DSF brings the needed financial resources to carry out 65 ministries.

Victoria’s Bishop Cahill hosts Lenten mission at St. Edward in Spring

MINISTRIES

Charity Guild remodels, reopens shop with record-breaking sales

A March 7 morning Mass allowed students from St. Edward Catholic School to attend. The sessions focused on the three spiritual pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

For other Lenten events and resources, including prayers and a Lenten message from Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and Pope Francis, visit www.archgh.org/lent. †

CHAPLAIN, from previous page

CCC, the lay chaplains, the pastoral visitors, and the entire prayer network of individuals that bring so much comfort and support to families in need,” said Thomas. “Having experienced the good works and deeds of the CCC, I am now a privileged member of the CCC team to lend support to those that are experiencing their own challenges. This invaluable ministry would not be possible

without the financial support of the DSF.”

To learn more about the CCC and pastoral visitor volunteer opportunities, go to archgh.org. To donate to the DSF that supports CCC and 64 ministries, go to archgh.org/dsf. The DSF supports each of these ministries, whether direct service or education, which require this critical funding to remain in operation. Out of each gift given to DSF, 100% of every dollar goes directly to supporting these ministries. †

HOUSTON

— In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the Charity Guild of Catholic Women embarked on a fundraising campaign among its members and a few foundations to bring its shop into the next 100 years. The store’s technology and phone systems were updated, as well as their air conditioner.

Planning began in earnest in mid-2022. The shop closed on Dec. 23 for the holidays, and the remodel began in January 2023. With the help of Harvey Builders and Gensler, and other companies, the organization was able to complete the remodel in less than five weeks. The shop reopened on Feb. 15 and brought in record-breaking sales. †

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHARITY GUILD OF CATHOLIC WOMEN

PHOTO BY MICHELLE EISTERHOLD/FOR THE HERALD

SPRING — Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria hosted a three-day Lenten mission at St. Edward Catholic Church in Spring March 6 to 8. The mission included morning and evening sessions, as well as confession and Mass.

10 YEARS with POPE FRANCIS Pushing the Church to bring the Gospel

Texas Catholic Herald

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For a decade, even when discussing the internal workings of the Vatican, Pope Francis has insisted the Church is not the Church of Christ if it does not reach out, sharing the “joy of the Gospel” and placing the poor at the center of its attention.

Signals that his papacy would be different started the moment he stepped out on the balcony of St. Pe1ter’s Basilica the evening of March 13, 2013: He was not wearing a red, ermine-trimmed cape, and he bowed as he asked the crowd to pray that God would bless him.

A POPE OF SURPRISES

Reflecting on the election of Pope Francis, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, said “Ten years ago, Pope Francis was a surprise choice coming to us from Argentina and over these years has continued to be a Pope of surprises.”

“Pope Francis has consistently called for a renewal in our attentiveness to those on the margins and the most vulnerable among us,” he said. “I am grateful to Pope Francis for these past ten years and pray for his ministry daily.”

Less than three years after the pope’s election, Cardinal DiNardo was among the select few on the tarmac to greet Pope Francis when the pontiff arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland near Washington in 2015 for his landmark papal visit to the United States.

40 TRIPS AND COUNTING

The pope’s decision not to live in the Apostolic Palace, his invitations to Vatican trash collectors, gardeners and other employees to join him for his daily Mass, his insistence on going to the Italian island of Lampedusa to celebrate Mass and pray for migrants who had drowned in the Mediterranean drew the attention of the media.

But not everyone was pleased with the seeming ease with which he set aside pomp and protocol. And tensions within the Catholic community grew as he expressed openness to LGBTQ Catholics and to those living in what the church considers irregular marriage situations and when he said in an interview in 2013 that the church cannot talk only about abortion, gay marriage and contraception.

One kind of summary of his first 10 years as pope can be found in numbers: He has made 40 trips abroad, visiting 60 countries; in eight consistories he created 95 cardinals under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave and paid tribute to 26 churchmen

over the age of 80; and he has presided over the canonizations of 911 new saints, including a group of more than 800 martyrs, but also Sts. John Paul II, John XXIII and Paul VI.

In his first major document, the apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” he laid out a program for his papacy, looking inside the church and outside at the world to see what needed to be done to “encourage and guide the whole church in a new phase of evangelization, one marked by enthusiasm and vitality.”

The document included a discussion of the need to reform church institutions to highlight their missionary role; to encourage

PHOTOS BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD AND CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Above, Pope Francis bows his head in prayer during his election night appearance on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 13, 2013. The crowd joined the pope in silent prayer after he asked them to pray that God would bless him.

Above, at right, Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress as Vice President Joe Biden (left) and Speaker of the House John Boehner look on in the House of Representatives Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Sept. 24, 2015 during his U.S. papal visit.

Pope Francis holds the monstrance as he delivers his extraordinary blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) during a prayer service in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 27, 2020. The service was livestreamed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

pastoral workers to listen to and stand with the people they were ministering to -- his famous line about having “the smell of the sheep”; to deepen an understanding of the church as “the entire people of God” and not as an institution or, worse, a club of the elect; to integrate the poor into the church and society, rather than simply see them as objects of assistance; and to promote peace and dialogue.

EMBRACING A ‘LIVED EXPERIENCE’

For Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the agenda of Pope Francis is the original agenda of the

Second Vatican Council.

Unlike St. John Paul II and the late Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not attend any of the council sessions. And, in fact, because he was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 13, 1969, he is the first pope to be ordained a priest after Vatican II.

“After Scripture and tradition, the council is the significant foundation, and would say, characteristic orientation of this papacy,” the cardinal told Catholic News Service. “He has taken the council not from a collection of decrees, but from the lived experience of the council as implemented, as lived, as tested, as developed, you might say, in the church of Latin America.”

St. John XXIII launched the council with a pastoral focus on what it means to be the church in the modern world, he said. The papacies of St. John Paul and Pope Benedict, he said, “reverted to a more doctrinal understanding of the council” with “some very good results and with some massive, unfinished business.”

While the work of Pope Francis’ predecessors was important, he said, “I don’t think it picked up the primary agenda (of the council), which was implementing a new understanding of church in the modern world, a new way of evangelizing because the world is so different from how it was, let’s say, at the end of World War II.”

IN THE PERIPHERIES

Emilce Cuda, an Argentine theologian, a visiting professor at the University of St. Thomas in Houston and secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, agreed that a key to understanding Pope Francis’ pontificate is knowing how Vatican II was lived in Latin America with respect for popular piety and culture, and trust

Philadelphia - September 2015

Opening the Jubilee Doors of Mercy - December 2015

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo meeting with Pope Francis - September 2019

FRANCIS Gospel to the world

A papacy beginning with ‘fraternity, love’ and trust

the day he was elected – “Let’s begin this journey” with “fraternity, love, trust” and prayer, and “may it be fruitful for evangelization” – was a clear sign of a new style he saw for the entire church, that of synodality, with all brothers and sisters in the faith walking, praying and evangelizing together.

That first night also gave a glimpse into how Pope Francis would lead the universal church in the uncharted situation of having a retired pope in the wings. He led everyone in prayer “for our Bishop Emeritus Benedict XVI.”

UNEXPECTED CHOICES

SEE MORE ONLINE

aid directly and convey his prayers.

in the “sensus fidei,” the notion that the baptized together have a “sense of faith” and an ability “to understand what God says to us, to his people, in every moment.”

“There in the popular culture, in the peripheries, and in all the people of God, we can hear what God wants from us, or what God tells us to do in response to social problems and in the Church in each moment,” she said. “We are in history and history is a movement, and the situation is not the same (as) in the 20th century or in the 21st century.”

As for disagreements with or even controversies about the papacy of Pope Francis, Cardinal Czerny warned against confusing “loud with representative or loud with majority. Loud doesn’t mean any of those things; it means loud.”

But, he said, “the patience of Pope Francis” leads him and encourages others

to recognize that the pope’s critics “are not 100% off beam,” or off track; there usually is a grain of truth in what they say or an important value they hold dear that is being overlooked.

Joseph Cardinal Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, told CNS he believes the first 10 years of Pope Francis’ pontificate have been preparation for “what’s happening right now, and that’s the synodal conversation.”

The Second Vatican Council called Catholics to read the “signs of the times” and respond. And, the cardinal said, “this notion that we don’t have automatically prepared prescriptions for every challenge that faces us leads us to a fundamental tenet of our belief,” which is belief “in the Holy Spirit, the lord and giver of life.”

The synod process, which began with listening to people around the globe and will move toward two assemblies mainly of bishops, is about listening to the Holy Spirit.

As president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, Cardinal DiNardo was also one of four U.S. Bishops who attended the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment convened by Pope Francis in October 2018.

Cardinal DiNardo moderated one of the working groups and also gave an address to the entire Synod of Bishops. In his address titled “Hail O Cross, our Only Hope,” Cardinal DiNardo said: “Jesus evangelizes through His identity as the Crucified Lord. It is impossible not to see this throughout the Gospels.”

These encounters with the pope were among several that Cardinal DiNardo had with Pope Francis in the last decade. †

Many of his most unexpected choices on how he would live as pope were offered as a kind of, “Do as I do, not just as I say,” especially to his brother bishops around the world. He chose to live in a Vatican guesthouse instead of the Apostolic Palace, he has used an annual penance celebration at the Vatican to publicly go to confession, he responds to many people who write to him with a letter, note or phone call, he meets regularly with victims of abuse, and he has gone in person to pay a bill, to pick up a new pair of glasses and to visit the elderly and the sick.

The election of Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, marked the first time a Jesuit was made pope. He ushered in a number of styles characteristic of his order: the Ignatian practice of discernment for making decisions in the presence of God; seeking God’s presence in all things; and a penchant for boiling his talks down to three bullet points.

He was the first pope to come from the Americas, born of immigrant Italian parents; this second-generation experience lent lived authenticity to his insistence migrants be respected, integrated and appreciated for their hard work and the rich diversity they bring to a host nation.

THE NAME OF FRANCIS

Most indicative of his unique style was choosing the name “Francis” to honor St. Francis of Assisi, known for his poverty, commitment to peace and love of creation. It was a signal of the style to come: simplicity, humility, working with the poor, desiring a church that is poor and for the poor, and further deepening his predecessor’s love of creation integrated with a respect for all life.

Under his watch, the papal charities office has increased its outreach, particularly to the homeless who live near the Vatican and in other parts of the world, such as Ukraine, where he has sent his papal almoner to deliver

He also set aside the usual practice of washing the feet of 12 priests during a public celebration of the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Instead, he has celebrated smaller Masses – closed to the public – in prisons, refugee centers and rehabilitation centers, washing the feet of Catholics and non-Catholics, men and women, in order to show Christ’s love for everyone, especially the most marginalized.

TO THE MARGINS

His idea of “outreach” has included reaching outside the Vatican bubble. He called in “outsiders” as the majority of the members of his International Council of Cardinals and of the Vatican safeguarding commission. He gets a new personal secretary every few years and gives dozens of interviews to big and small media outlets.

His desire to “speak from the heart” means many off-the-cuff comments, homespun anecdotes, sharp rebukes or critiques and an occasional statement that requires clarification or an apology.

A native-Spanish speaker who grew up with Italian-speaking relatives in Argentina, the pope merges a number of styles and, as a former high school teacher, often draws on literary themes and rhetorical devices.

His memorable metaphors and allegories have a religious message: priests need to be “shepherds living with the ‘smell of sheep’”; confession is not “sitting down in a torture chamber”; and Catholics must resist “a throwaway culture” that readily disposes of people’s lives and dignity.

Pope Francis also has offered a new approach to evangelization that he had mapped out in his brief address during the pre-conclave meetings of the cardinals. Cardinal Bergoglio’s words struck a chord with his listeners and formed the basis of his blueprint as pope.

A talk outline said that when the Church is self-referential with a kind of theological narcissism, it gets sick and is can’t to carry out its mission to go out and evangelize; in effect, such a Church keeps Jesus within and does not let Him out.

Jesus is knocking so that “we will let him come out,” the then-Cardinal Bergoglio had said, and the next pope needs to help the church go out to the “peripheries” and become “the fruitful mother who gains life from the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing.”†

POPE

FRANCIS

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

FRANCIS, from page 1

Explore other stories and view a free photo slideshow recapping the last 10 years of Pope Francis’s papacy online at WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/FRANCIS10.

“Pope Francis has consistently called for a renewal in our attentiveness to those on the margins and the most vulnerable among us. I am grateful to Pope Francis for these past ten years and pray for his ministry daily.”

DANIEL CARDINAL DINARDO Archbishop of Galveston-Houston

World Youth Day, Krakow - July 2016

Hearing confessions Meeting inmates in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - 2016

Texas-Mexico Border near El Paso, 2016

Alumnus, businessman steps in to help alma mater school

The Resurrection Catholic School, one of the eight CROSS Academies of the Archdiocese, recognized a generous benefactor at their Mass Thursday morning, Jan. 26. For the safety of the students, the school needed a new fence. Gregg T. Reyes (center), president and CEO of Reytec Construction Resources Inc. and Resurrection Catholic school alumnus, graciously stepped in to help the school with this project by providing financial assistance with a new wrought iron fence. Father Oscar Dubon (right) offered prayers of thanksgiving for Reyes during the Mass. Reyes spoke to the students after Mass, shared warm memories of his days at Resurrection, and encouraged students to “always aim to do your best, as great things will happen if you work hard.” Cynthia Suarez (left), the school’s principal, presented Reyes with a plaque to show appreciation for his generosity

IRAs & Annuities

Checkmate! St. Jerome chess team captures second place tournament win

HOUSTON — On Feb. 8, four of 12 St. Jerome Catholic School team chess players participated in a chess tournament at the Trinity Klein Lutheran School in Spring. Three students won individual trophies. In the intermediate skill level competition, John Torres and Matthieu Comia each won three of their five games. Torres captured the seventh-place trophy, while Comia won the ninth-place award. Playing in his second-ever tournament, Ricardo Bonilla also won three and got the ninth-place cup at the novice level, making it two trophies in a row for Bonilla.

Isabella Betancur won two games. That gave the team a score of 11 points, enough for them to walk away with the second-place elementary school team trophy. †

GOD IS THE STRENGTH OF MY HEART

SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS OR

Have

PHOTO COURTESY OF RESURRECTION CATHOLIC SCHOOL

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JEROME CATHOLIC SCHOOL

St. Jerome Catholic School students and chess team members Ricardo Bonilla, John Torres, Isabella Betancur and Matthieu Comia celebrate their wins with their coaches.

– Daniel Cardinal DiNardo Archbishop of Galveston-Houston

YOUTH

St. Joseph is an example of all men to be fathers

I grew up in a dysfunctional family; however, one thing my parents did give me was a sense of faith and a duty to the Church. But that wasn’t enough. I needed more. Eventually, God showed me what I was missing through St. Joseph and men that lived up to his example as a father to a boy that was not his son.

Even with so little written in Scripture about St. Joseph, there is so much to tease out. How God called St. Joseph is how He is calling all men.

by JOSEPH MASTRANGELO

First, God calls us to righteousness — to follow not only the letter of the law but the spirit of the law. We know this because St. Joseph decided to divorce Mary in quiet versus having her stoned for perceived infidelity (Mt 1:19-25). The letter of the law says Mary should be stoned for infidelity. However, probably in his heart, he knew something was different and decided something different should be done. His well-formed conscience helped him. This is a hard first step, I know. But I have good news for you. He has given us all free help! Help found in the Scriptures, Sacraments, community

and prayer are all tools that God has given us to help us be righteous for the Kingdom of God. We need this help to discern the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law, like St. Joseph.

Second, Joseph is called the “Son of David.” David was the King of the Israelites. He was from a royal line. We are all sons of the Father. Through our adopted sonship with the Father, we are related to the King and thus are coheirs through Jesus Christ. There is nothing for us to do; we just need to accept that God has lifted us up.

Third, Joseph responded immediately to the message he received when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. God wants us to respond immediately to His promptings. Maybe it is a dream. Maybe it is just a feeling. Maybe it is a gut reaction. Whatever way He prompts us, we are to respond immediately, especially if it is to aid another.

Fourth, Joseph was a carpenter. Later in the Gospel of Matthew (15:55), Jesus is called “the carpenter’s son.” God is calling us to work for the Kingdom here

LENTEN FASTING & ABSTINENCE

Fasting

Ash Wednesday

Good Friday

Ages 18-59

How do we fast?

Abstinence

Every

Ages 14+

When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal

Am I excused from fasting and abstinence?

Those that are excused from fast and abstinence outside the age limits include the physically or mentally ill including individuals suffering from chronic illnesses such as diabetes Also excluded are pregnant or nursing women

For more information on fasting and abstinence, visit www.archgh.org/lent.

For more information on fasting and abstinence, visit usccb org

on Earth. Do not become lazy. Get up and create something that can be useful for others. It may be in your job, or it may just be a hobby. But God created you to create! When we create with our hands, we participate in God the Father’s creation. We are co-creating the Kingdom of heaven with Him here on Earth.

Fifth, we learn in the Gospel of John that Joseph is from Nazareth, “Phillip found Nathanael and told him, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ But Nathanael said, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’”

We also learn what people thought of Nazareth at that time. So, it doesn’t matter where you are from or your background; He is calling you! When I first started to get involved in ministry, I used to joke, “I’m from Tomball, Texas, and we really don’t know how things work in the big city.” It didn’t matter where I was from or that I came from a broken family.

What mattered was that I showed up and did the job.

Finally, above all things, Joseph took on the role of the foster father of Jesus. God calls men to be fathers to the fatherless. Jesus had a Father in Heaven, but God the Father knew it was important, even necessary, for Him to have an earthly father. God revealed this to me through St. Joseph and some men that modeled their lives after him. When I needed a father, I had men to be a father for me.

As you can see, there is so much to learn from St. Joseph. Should you want to learn more, I suggest a book by Dr. Mark Miravalle, Meet Your Spiritual Father: A Brief Introduction to St. Joseph.

Joseph Mastrangelo, owner and roaster of Zelie Beans Coffee, is a former youth minister of the Archdiocese.

COLUMNISTS

Agape = Love = Charity

Before we put away the Valentine’s decorations or eat the last of those delicious chocolates, let’s reflect on our ability to desire the good of the other. It may come easy to love strangers or people who may not know us but what about those closest to us — our siblings, family members, cousins, parents and colleagues? Love comes from God, who is love and shares in the divinity of a Trinitarian Love. More times than not, if you turn on the television or scroll social media or simply drive around Houston, you’ll see a portrayal of love that depicts “Love is Love.” Somehow God got factored out from that equation of love. In the book, Four Types of Love, C.S. Lewis, breaks down the four different types of love:

• Eros or erotic bodily desire passion, which is seen so commonly in every electronic device.

by MELISSA ALVAREZ

• Storge or affection and kingship for others.

• Philia or friendship and love for others and love of the soul.

• Agape or Charity, desiring the good of the other, which love comes only from the Father, given to us through His Son Jesus.

“Jesus makes charity the new commandment. By loving His own “to the end,” He makes manifest the Father’s love which He receives” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1823). Jesus came willing to sacrifice Himself for us and show us true love by taking up the cross and surrendering to the Father. We, too, are invited to agape and, in turn, show that

charity to our close ones and to everyone we encounter. Indeed, challenging and not easy, but why not start with this year’s gift of Lent and start with baby steps? We’ve all been to a wedding or have listened to the beautiful words in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13.

I invite you to ponder on those virtues of charity.

The virtues of patience, kindness, joy, self-control, charity, peace, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty and chastity come to us when we answer the call to holiness. We are called to Our Father in sharing in the Divine Trinitarian Love. Therefore, what may we do to practice agape?

Here are seven simple ideas:

• Get your coworker some vitamins when they sound like they are under the weather.

• Intentionally offer up a meal for

We are Capex Dei - Capacity for God

We are Capex Dei, or perhaps it is better to say we have the capacity for God. The deepest and innermost part of our very being is this capacity for God. This capacity, gifted to us by God as His rational creation, craves fulfillment and is indelible in the human heart. Sometimes, we may not recognize what we crave or to whom we crave. This deep yearning and movement toward God needs satisfaction to be truly happy in this life. Satisfaction should only be sought in God, and one

way to tap into our Capex Dei is through prayer. St. Augustine said, prayer is the language of the heart’s yearning for God, it is the interpreter of the heart’s desire, and I agree.

Every Tuesday at noon, as I have done since May 2020, I pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, albeit online with others. My hope is that it continues on, eventually in a blended format of in-person and virtual. I love this prayer because of its simplicity, it highlights the Gospels of Jesus Christ, and it has

someone who may seem against you.

• Randomly send your elderly neighbor a meal or snack.

• Purposely carry prayer cards or miraculous medals in your pocket to give away.

• Put your phones away and pray your favorite litany as a family.

• Write Easter cards to a distant person, pouring out your love for them and Jesus.

• Plan to smile and acknowledge everyone that crosses your path intentionally; as Mother Teresa said, “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” †

Melissa Alvarez is an assistant associate director with the Ministry with Persons with Disabilities in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

by DORIS BARROW

power. The Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be are, in my opinion, fundamental and formative to our pilgrimage on Earth. We can never exhaust the use of these prayers in silent meditation or speech. At any given point in our lives, we should be able to recite or contemplate these prayers with ease and as often as possible. It is a beautiful way to ground ourselves in an unceasing posture of openness to our God. The Rosary is one way to open ourselves to the Capex Dei within our hearts.

I recently had a one-on-one conversation with a college student at Texas Southern University about prayer. The student is a graduating senior, and the spring semester was supposed to be the last. All sorts of obstacles reared their heads — from the unavailability of classes necessary for graduation to a mishap with financial aid and strained relationships with family and friends.

Needless to say, a myriad of challenges appeared within a short period of time. We sat down for what seemed like hours, and most of the conversation contained phrases like, I pray that I can graduate on time, I hope and pray that my financial aid is corrected, I pray that God deals with my family so they can see my point of view.

I decided to guide the conversation

toward the beauty and simplicity of the Lord’s Prayer. I asked the student more about their prayer life, and honestly, most college students I encounter, although comfortable speaking in general with others, find it debilitating to talk to God.

I pray when I can and if I need to, are words I often hear, and in this conversation, we discussed the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer and that even our own spontaneous prayers can mirror the perfect example offered by our Lord Jesus. It occurred to me that as the conversation continued, we were actually in the act of praying.

Our minds and hearts were fixed on God. Our conversation was about God and with God. I believe if more of our conversations were oriented this way, lives would be transformed.

It is safe to say that it is perfectly fine to make a prayer request that I learn to pray well and ask the Lord to touch the hearts of others to pray well and in confidence — especially college students. When the first disciples asked Jesus to teach us to pray, it was a petition, and I propose it could be considered a prayer. (Lk 11:1)

The next time we offer up prayers to God, let us consider the petition that we learn to pray well, pray often, and pray with confidence because we all have the Capex Dei (capacity for God) to do so. †

Doris M. Barrow III is the director and campus minister at the Texas Southern University Catholic Newman Center.

WORLD

‘Noble profession’ of journalism must convey the truth, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The work of journalists is to listen and convey the truth of what was really said, Pope Francis told a Catholic weekly magazine.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank, through you, all journalists for their work. It is a noble profession: to convey the truth,” he said in an interview with Tertio, a Belgium-based Dutch-language publication.

The lengthy interview, which took place on Dec. 19, 2022, in Spanish, was published online in Dutch at tertio.be Feb. 28; the Vatican newspaper published an Italian translation of the interview the same day.

The pope said the tasks of a journalist are “listening, translating and disseminating,” with listening being the key first step.

“There are journalists who are brilliant because they say clearly, ‘I listened, he said this, even though I think the opposite,’” he said. “You should not say, ‘He said this,’” when that was not what was said.

“Listen, report the message and then criticize. Journalists are doing a tremendous job,” he said.

The reporter reminded the pope about an open letter that was signed by dozens of journalists and sent to him last year asking that St. Titus Brandsma, a Dutch Carmelite priest, journalist and martyr, be made a patron saint of journalists.

Canonized by Pope Francis in May 2022, the saint was “someone who shared in the deeper mission that should drive journalism in modern times: a search for truth and veracity, the promotion of peace and dialogue between people and populations,” the open letter said.

“Does our request have any chance of being considered?” the reporter asked the pope.

The pope said, “I completely agree with this proposal,” adding that there was another saint who also would be appropriate, referring to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest, journalist and martyr, who had been arrested on charges of aiding Jewish refugees and the Polish resistance.

Pope Francis said he was going to contact the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints “to see what is possible. It would certainly be my pleasure.”

Asked about the Second Vatican

Council and why its implementation is “so close to your heart,” the pope said, “Historians say it takes a century for the decisions of a council to take full effect and be implemented. So we still have 40 years to go. I am so committed to the council because that event was actually a visit of God to His Church.”

The council “is not just a question of renewal, but also a challenge to make the Church more and more alive. The council does not renew, it rejuvenates the Church” without losing her “age-old wisdom,” he said.

“The Church is a mother who is always moving forward. The council opened the door to greater maturity, more in tune with the signs of the times,” he said.

“The structure of the Church, the traditional — if correctly understood — is always modern. This is because tradition continues to develop and grow,” he said.

“From the root, we always continue to grow. The council took such a step forward without cutting off the root because that is not possible if you want to produce fruit.”

Asked about his hope for and aim with the current synodal process, the pope recalled how St. Paul VI noted the Church in the West “had almost lost its synodal dimension, while the Eastern Catholic churches had been able to preserve it.”

The saint established the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops to

PASTORAL SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS OF CLERGY SEXUAL ABUSE

In a continuing effort to provide pastoral care to victims of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo would like to remind the faithful of the Archdiocese of the availability of the Victims Assistance Coordinator. Anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel is encouraged to call Diane Vines at 713-654-5799. Please keep in daily prayers the healing of victims of abuse and all who suffer in any way.

promote synodality in the Church again, he said, and “over the past 60 years, this has become more and more pervasive.”

Some questions are finding more clarity, he said, for example, whether only bishops had the right to vote.“Sometimes, it was not clear whether women could vote. At the latest synod, on the Amazon in 2019, spirits were maturing in that direction.”

The current synodal process and the two synods on synodality, he said, “will help us clarify the meaning and this methodology of decision-making in the Church.”

The synod is not “a parliament” but is a gathering of believers who take time for prayer so the Holy Spirit can help, he said.

It is a meeting of people of faith, “led by the Holy Spirit, but equally tempted and seduced by the evil spirit,” he said. †

CNS PHOTO

Pope Francis answers questions from journalists aboard his flight from Athens, Greece, to Rome Dec. 6, 2021. The work of journalists is to listen and convey the truth of what was really said, Pope Francis told Tertio, a Catholic weekly magazine in an interview published Feb. 28. He thanked all journalists for their work. “It is a noble profession: to convey the truth,” he said in the new interview

STATE & NATION

U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services advances relief efforts at home, abroad

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Catholic Relief Services Collection, an annual fund supporting Catholic Church organizations that carry out international relief efforts, will be taken up in March, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said.

“With so many global humanitarian disasters and suffering people, it’s often difficult to decide how to respond effectively,” Bishop James S. Wall, of Gallup, New Mexico, chairman of the USCCB Committee on National Collections, said in a written statement about this year’s effort. However, he said thanks to gifts to the Catholic Relief Services Collection, sponsored by the USCCB, Catholics “can address a range of needs worldwide.”

“Each gift to this annual collection, which most dioceses will take up this year on March 18 to 19, helps people everywhere in the name of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church,” he added. “Whenever you give, your offering is multiplied by thousands of fellow Catholics, bringing rescue and relief among the most vulnerable and

marginalized people on earth.”

The bishop also noted that Catholics can give through the #iGiveCatholicTogether campaign (igivecatholictogether.org), where the USCCB collection is listed.

The fund will provide support for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ international relief and development agency, as well as the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, or CLINIC, the Holy Father’s Relief Fund, the USCCB Department of Migration and Refugee

VETERANS' BENEFITS SEMINAR

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Check in: 9:00 a m

Seminar: 9:30 - 11:30 (Light lunch provided)

St. Dominic Village tours available

For: Veterans (spouses) 50+ yrs.

TOPICS: CAREGIVER SUPPORT & FUNERAL/BURIAL BENEFITS

St Dominic Center Auditorium 2403 Holcombe Blvd Houston, TX 77021

Cost: FREE

https://forms microsoft com/r/Q50C8wVEQc

Workers at a camp in Terrain Toto, Haiti, construct transitional shelters provided by Catholic Relief Services for those left homeless in the 2010 earthquake. The Catholic Relief Services Collection takes place in many dioceses March 18 to 19 to support the U.S. Church’s work overseas.

Services for refugee resettlement, the USCCB Department of International Justice and Peace, and the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

“As chairman of the USCCB Committee on National Collections, I see the good works that our Catholic people make possible through this collection,” Bishop Wall said. “Their support helps reveal Christ’s love to refugees, victims of wars and disasters, and people with

unique pastoral needs.”

In a 2021 annual report, the USCCB reported more than $13 million in net assets from the fund at the end of that year. The report detailed disbursements of grants to groups aiding migrants around the globe and other efforts to care for the vulnerable.

The fund previously aided more than 75,000 Afghans who fled Taliban persecution in their homeland to resettle in the U.S., peacemaking efforts in Congo, and improved conditions in refugee camps in Uganda, Bishop Wall said.

The fund also has provided for the apostolate of the Catholic Church for the people of the sea, known as “Stella Maris,” part of the USCCB program for the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers, which ministers to people who work in seafaring roles without regular access to Mass.

“Stella Maris, missionaries at ports on the Gulf Coast, brought Sacraments and pastoral care, co-sponsored COVID-19 vaccinations, and provided Bibles, rosaries and care packages for voyages ahead,” Bishop Wall said. †

OSV NEWS PHOTO

The Office of Aging & St. Dominic Village Present

MUNDO CATÓLICO

‘Plato de arroz’: una iniciativa para luchar contra el hambre en el mundo

(OSV NEWS) — Pronto estará, como cada Cuaresma, en cientos de miles de hogares católicos de Estados Unidos, el conocido como “plato de arroz”, Operation Rice Bowl. Se trata de una de las campañas más populares que pone en marcha Catholic Relief Service (CRS), la agencia oficial de la comunidad católica de EE.UU. para ayuda humanitaria internacional.

No es un plato ni tiene arroz: es una cajita que cada familia se lleva a casa al principio de Cuaresma. Contiene ideas e iniciativas para vivir este tiempo de oración: oraciones, recetas sin carne, sugerencias, etc. Pero también está destinada a contener las limosnas de la familia.

Así lo explicó a Aleteia Roberto Navarro, director de relaciones con la Iglesia de CRS. “La cajita es mucho más que una hucha para recoger dinero: contiene todo un proceso de formación para entender por qué nuestra fe nos llama a hacer esto. Por qué los valores del Evangelio y nuestra fe nos llaman a acompañar a nuestros hermanos más necesitados en el mundo”, dijo.

“Cuando mis propios hijos eran pequeños, teníamos el Plato de Arroz en casa. Y yo les explicaba: cuando bendecimos la mesa, pedimos que Dios dé de comer a los que no tienen. Pero ¿cómo creen que Dios va a dar de comer a los que no tienen? Pues a través de nosotros, que somos sus manos y sus pies en este mundo”, añadió.

La iniciativa nació al calor del Congreso Eucarístico Internacional que se celebró en Filadelfia en 1976. En este congreso internacional participaron

personalidades de la talla de la sierva de Dios Dorothy Day, y Santa Teresa de Calcuta.

También ahora, con ocasión del próximo Congreso Eucarístico Nacional previsto para 2024 en Indianápolis, quiere relanzarse con fuerza. “Es importante”, subrayó Navarro, “que los católicos recuperemos la conexión de la Eucaristía con las buenas obras”.

“Creemos en un Dios que es poderoso y que podría acabar con el hambre en un momento. Pero Él nos llama por nuestro nombre y quiere que seamos nosotros quienes ‘demos de comer’, como lo dijo a sus discípulos”, le dijo a Aleteia. “Esto a mí me da personalmente mucha fuerza para seguir adelante en mi trabajo en CRS, como que Dios me llama como hijo a colaborar con él”.

Lo recaudado en el Plato de Arroz va directamente a las parroquias, y éstas hacen llegar los fondos a CRS, para emplearlos en diferentes necesidades. Estos fondos tienen la particularidad de que no son restringidos a fines concretos, con lo cual, explicó el representante de CRS, “permiten responder con enorme rapidez a las emergencias”. Por ejemplo, a la del reciente terremoto de Turquía y Siria.

Esta campaña busca también crear conciencia sobre el empeoramiento del hambre en el mundo, debido a las consecuencias del COVID, a la guerra de Ucrania y a la mayor inestabilidad mundial, y a los fenómenos meteorológicos cada vez más extremos.

El nuevo informe sobre el Global Hunger Index referido a 2022 muestra que el progreso mundial contra el hambre se

Guía Para La Observancia Cuaresmal

El Miércoles de Ceniza es el 22 de febrero, y la Cuaresma continúa hasta el Viernes Santo, 7 de abril. Tanto el Miércoles de Ceniza como el Viernes Santo son días de ayuno y abstinencia. La abstinencia de carne es obligatoria para todos los que han cumplido 14 años. Los viernes de Cuaresma son días de abstinencia. Según los obispos de los Estados Unidos, el ayuno es obligatorio para todos los que han cumplido sus 18 años y aún no han cumplido los 60 años. El ayuno permite a una persona

comer una comida completa. Se pueden tomar dos comidas más pequeñas, para no equivaler a una comida completa. A través de obras de ayuno, oración y abstinencia, prestamos atención a la exhortación del profeta Joel de “convertíos a mí con todo vuestro corazón” (2:12). La Cuaresma es un tiempo penitencial y prácticas como la Misa diaria, la recepción del Sacramento de la Reconciliación, las obras de caridad y justicia y los actos de abnegación son altamente alentados.

APOYO PASTORAL A VÍCTIMAS DE ABUSO SEXUAL DEL CLERO

En un continuo esfuerzo por facilitar atención pastoral a las victimas de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, el Cardenal DiNardo gustaría recordar a los fieles de la Arquidiócesis la disponibilidad del Coordinador de Ayuda a Víctimas. Si alguien ha sido victim de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, se les anima llamar a la Diane Vines al 713-654-5799. Por favor rece por la sanación de las víctimas del abuso y por todos los que sufren de alguna manera.

ha estancado y que lo más probable es que la situación empeore en 2023. Los puntos críticos del planeta en estos momentos son Somalia y el Cuerno de África, y Haití y el corredor seco centroamericano, además de emergencias concretas como la de Siria y Turquía.

Los fondos procedentes del Plato de Arroz tienen la ventaja, explicó Navarro a Aleteia, “de que son ágiles y permiten responder con rapidez a las peticiones de ayuda”. Además, las parroquias receptoras se quedan con el 25% de lo recaudado para sus propios fines

La Campaña de Catholic Relief Services de Operation Rice Bowl, es conocida como la campaña “plato de arroz”, pero no es un plato: es una iniciativa de Cuaresma para hacer presente a los católicos que la fe está llamada a producir obras.

3 al 16 de Septiembre de 2023 $4,190.00 por persona desde Houston

Guía Espiritual: Padre Carmelo Hernández Iglesia Católica San León Magno – Houston, TX

Teléfono: 281-449-2344

Correo electrónico: carmeloheran@gmail.com

WITHIN THE ARTS

Jonathan Roumie’s Lent: fasting, sharing faith, and a new film on the ‘Jesus people’

(OSV News) — This Lent, Jonathan Roumie has a full plate at work — and an empty one at home, he told OSV News, thanks to some “heavy fasting” he plans to undertake between now and Easter.

“Fasting is super-powerful,” Roumie said. “Any time I do it, stuff just starts opening up, and (there’s) clarity. I just keep thinking of when the disciples were asking Jesus why they couldn’t cast out certain demons, and he (said), ‘You’ve got to pray and fast more.’ ...There’s a spiritual power that comes from disciplining your body that way.”

The actor, who plays Jesus in the streaming hit series “The Chosen,” stars in the newly released film “Jesus Revolution,” portraying evangelist Lonnie Frisbee, a leader of the “Jesus People” movement in Southern California during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The revival saw thousands of youth from the nation’s “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” counterculture flock to churches such as Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, while imparting to mainstream Christian denominations a new openness to

marginalized groups.

With audiences already accustomed to seeing him onscreen as Jesus, Roumie was a natural for the part since the charismatic Frisbee cultivated a Christlike appearance, growing long hair and a beard while donning a robe and sandals for his ministry.

“I think he was proud of that fact,” said Roumie, who researched Frisbee’s life extensively for the film. “He recognized that he looked like Jesus, and he said, ‘There’s no one else I’d rather look like.’ ... He was a fan of St. Francis of Assisi, and he would borrow from Catholic traditions in many ways.”

The role marks a shift for Roumie, who described Frisbee as “a bit of a tortured soul ... with deep, deep wounds.”

Abused and neglected throughout his childhood, Frisbee experimented with drugs and alternative spiritualities as a teen, eventually moving to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district during the 1967 “Summer of Love,” when some 100,000 youth flooded the city. Following what he would later call a “clear as crystal” vision, Frisbee recommitted his life to Jesus Christ, left art school and embraced fulltime ministry.

Full descriptions for each open position are available online: www.archgh.org/ employment

Development Department: Development Coordinator

Office of Aging: Associate Director

Legal Department: Legal Counsel

Office of the Permanent Diaconate: Director of Field Education

Evangelization & Catechesis:

Associate Director of Sacramental Preparation, English/Spanish

Associate Director of Catechetical Leaders and Catechist Formation in English/Spanish

St. Dominic Center: Part-Time Weekend Receptionist

St. Dominic Village Retirement Home: Support Specialist to Retired Priests

Interested candidates may send a cover letter, with salary requirement, and resume to resume@archgh.org with the job title on the subject line.

*Submissions that do not include the salary requirement will not be moved forward for consideration.

“In the film, we focus on his time where he’s got God sort of lifting him up and sending him out as an apostle with these amazing, charismatic spiritual gifts — gifts of the Holy Spirit in very overt ways,” Roumie said. “When you talk to some of the people that saw him do ... healings, (they say) it was like walking with an apostle. It was that extraordinary.”

At the same time, Frisbee struggled with the effects of his childhood abuse. His marriage ended in 1973, and a decade later, he found himself estranged from the Church while battling an addiction to cocaine. Frisbee eventually returned to his faith and reconciled with several former colleagues as he battled AIDS, to which he succumbed in 1993.

“He wasn’t a god,” Roumie said. “He was a man that God used fully to his service.”

Although the film spans only the golden years of Frisbee’s life, Roumie said that some of his fans “may be a little thrown” by his latest role, including those who are surprised “when they hear me

MOVIE RATINGS By OSV News

OK – SUITABLE FOR OLDER CHILDREN

• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (PG)

T – MATURE TEENS

• Jesus Revolution (PG-13)

speak in my normal accent, because they just expect me to have a Middle Eastern accent (as in ‘The Chosen’) wherever I go. ... When you spend so much time in people’s homes on their televisions as this character, they just begin to think of you as that, no matter what you do.”

In commercials for the prayer app Hallow, for which he voices Lenten reflections, Roumie even pokes fun at himself over the prospect of being confused with Christ.

Yet, in a sense, art and life aren’t all that far apart, he said.

“I rely on my faith so heavily and sacramentally,” Roumie said. “Before I start any round of filming, I’ll go to Mass; I’ll go to confession; I will try to spend some time in Adoration when I can.”

He also prays the Liturgy of the Hours — also known as the “Divine Office” — which is the public prayer of the Church that the faithful have prayed together since the time of Jesus to sanctify the day — and it complements the Mass or Divine Liturgy.

“It’s pulling from Scripture, and you

M – MATURE VIEWERS

• 80 for Brady (PG-13)

• Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (PG-13)

• Creed III (PG-13)

• Missing (PG-13)

• Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (R)

L – LIMITED MATURE AUDIENCE

• Knock at the Cabin (R)

• Plane (R)

U – UNSUITABLE FOR ALL

• Cocaine Bear (R)

• Magic Mike’s Last Dance (R)

OSV NEWS PHOTO

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie stars as Jesus in a scene from an episode of the popular streaming show “The Chosen” that was filmed on location in Midlothian, Texas.

AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE

AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE

Editor’s Note: Contact event organizers for the latest updates. For deadline details and more listings, visit WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA

MARCH 18-20

ST JOSEPH’S ALTAR, Queen of Peace (1224 Cedar Dr., La Marque). Saturday, Blessing of the Table after 5 p.m. Mass. Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m. lunch. Cost is $7 per plate dinner time. Raffle available some with home made goodies, cookies and cakes from St. Joseph Altar. Proceeds benefit Galveston County Food Pantry. Monday, 10 a.m., Solemnity Mass, then dishes will be covered.

MARCH 19

ST JOSEPH’S ALTAR, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Christ the Redeemer (11507 Huffmeister Rd., Houston). Spaghetti dinner ($10/adults; $5/children). Italian desserts and baked goods will be on sale.

MARCH 21-23

LENTEN MISSION, 7 p.m., Holy Ghost (6920 Chimney Rock Rd., Houston). “Reflect, Reconnect, Rejoice!” with Father Michael Scherrey on receiving God’s immense and unconditional love. Mission includes time for Sacrament of Reconciliation. Fellowship follows.

MARCH 25

CATHOLIC WOMENS CONFERENCE, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., St. Mary’s Seminary (9845 Memorial Dr., Houston). Talks focused on Mary, the Eucharist, and celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Archdiocese. Keynote speakers include the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Lisa May and Kim Brown. Register: www.ghcw.org.

MARCH 30

CONCERT, 7 p.m., Sacred Heart (704 Old Montgomery Rd., Conroe). “The Stories I Tell Myself” tour featuring Matt Maher and Mission House. $25 to $50 tickets on sale at www. shconroe.org.

MARCH 31

MARKET, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Bayou City Event Center (9401 Knight Rd., Houston). The City Market features 60-plus merchants with assortment of merchandise. $20 presale, $25 at the door. Free parking. Proceeds support Third Age Learning Center at All Saints Catholic Church and volunteer service and grants to 15 Houston area non-profit organizations.

REVOLUTION, from previous page

just feel so much more connected to God and what he’s asking of you in your life,” Roumie said. “It feels like you’re clearing out the communications lines ... to be able to hear what (God) is trying to transmit to you.”

Roumie said he was initially hesitant to share his Catholic faith so openly, even when divine providence offered opportunities to do so.

“During the pandemic, I first started praying the Divine Mercy chaplet and the Rosary online. ... I hadn’t ever done anything like that before,” he said. “I’m like, people are going to know I’m Catholic, and it’s not exactly a great career move.”

But “even non-Catholics started tuning in and buying Rosary beads,” said Roumie, who has gained broad

Tickets purchase: thecitymkt.org and www. houstonjuniorforum.org.

APRIL 7-16

DIVINE MERCY NOVENA AND CHAPLET, 3 p.m., Mary Queen (606 Cedarwood Dr., Friendswood). Novena and Chaplet begins on Good Friday, April 7, following the 3 p.m. Stations of the Cross at the church, then continues in the St. Joseph Chapel at 3 p.m. each remaining day of the novena, April 8 to 15, including Easter Sunday. At 3 p.m. on April 16, Divine Mercy Sunday, prayers include Divine Mercy Chaplet, Adoration and Benediction in St. Joseph Chapel.

APRIL 14

ANNIVERSARY GALA, The Post Oak Hotel (1600 W Loop South, Houston). Benefiting Incarnate Word Academy, the event includes cocktail reception, seated dinner, special tribute, with silent and live auctions. Tables from $5,000 to $150,000; Individual tickets: $500. krizzo@ incarnateword.org; 713-227-3637 ext. 105.

APRIL 15

GALA AND AUCTION, 7 p.m., St. John XXIII College Preparatory (1800 W. Grand Parkway N., Katy). Buy tickets for “Off to the Races,” online at sj23lions.org/giving/advancement-programs/ gala--auction.

WORKSHOP, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Emmaus Spirituality Center (12211 Memorial Dr., Houston). “Road to Emmaus” Joan McGovern explores accessing that “road” to God and how the walk to answers might be different from what we expect. Cost is $30. info@ emmausspiritualitycenter.com; 281-241-9678; www.emmausspiritualitycenter.com.

APRIL 20

175TH ANNIVERSARY GALA, 7 p.m., Hilton Americas-Houston (1600 Lamar St., Houston). Landmark gala celebrates the 175th anniversary of the Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston and with special honorees. www. bidpal.net/agh175.

APRIL 29-30

FESTIVAL, Christ the Redeemer (11507 Huffmeister Rd., Houston). 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Event features food, music, children’s games, auctions, Bingo and more. ctrcc.com/festival.

To find additional listings online, visit the website at WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.

ecumenical appeal through his acting and speaking — enabling him to invite others to draw closer to Christ while communicating the beauty of the Catholic faith.

Christian unity “speaks very deeply to me,” Roumie said. “I feel like Christ does not prefer His body to be fractured, and so any way that I can help repair that is in the interest of serving Him. ... That’s part of my function in the arts, in this ministerial way: to bring people together under the banner of Christ.”

Roumie said watching others respond to that call has made speaking about his faith “worth every ounce of discomfort.”

“I had committed to surrendering to God. This is what I’m feeling called to do, and I’m going to do it,” Roumie said. “God will have my back. He’s had my back.” †

Editor’s Note: Contact event organizers for the latest updates.

FRIDAYS OF LENT

HOLY GHOST CATHOLIC SCHOOL (6921 Chetwood Dr., Houston), 5 to 7:30 p.m. $10 dinner plates with fish, hush puppies, mac and cheese or rice at the school cafeteria.

MARY QUEEN (606 Cedarwood Dr., Friendswood), 5:30 to 7 p.m. Knights of Columbus #8494 host a fish fry for dine-in or take-out with $15 plates of fried catfish, coleslaw, French fries, hush puppies and corn-on-the-cob.

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA (1731 Blalock Rd., Houston), 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (2405 Navigation Blvd., Houston), noon to 6 p.m. Dine-in or take-out. Knights of Columbus Council #7532 host a fish fry serving $12 plates of fried or grilled fish, French fries or baked potato, hush puppies, corn and salad.

PRINCE OF PEACE (19222 Tomball Pkwy., Houston), 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew Discipleship Center. $10 adult plates and $5 children’s plates include fried or grilled fish or fried shrimp with hush puppies, coleslaw, and baked potatoes or French fries.

SEALY COLUMBUS HALL (1310 Hwy 90 West, Sealy), 5:30 to 7:15 p.m. Knights of Columbus #3313 host a fish fry, serving $12 plates of fried fish, fries, pinto beans, coleslaw and hush puppies. Drive-thru only.

ST. CHRISTOPHER (8150 Park Place, Houston), 5:30 to 8 p.m. hosted by the Knights of Columbus Council #16218. $10 fish dinners include French fries, salad, hush puppies, tartar sauce and iced tea.

ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA (10503 Westheimer Rd., Houston), 5:30 to 8 p.m. Knights of Columbus Council #8024 serve fried or baked fish plates. $12/adults, $10/seniors, $8/children. Dine-in or take-out in room 121.

ST. EDITH STEIN (3311 North Fry Rd., Katy), in Carmel Hall, 6 to 9 p.m.

ST. FRANCES CABRINI (10727 Hartsook St., Houston), 12 to 5 p.m. Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, $12 plates include fried fish, fries, rice, hush puppies and bread.

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI (5102 Dabney St., Houston), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Knights of Peter Claver #231 Council and Court are hosting Lenten dinners through Good Friday with $12 catfish plates, $13 crawfish etouffee plates and $15 mixed dinner. Meals include green beans, potato salad, bread and cake. Pre-order by calling 281-315-0452.

ST. MARTIN DE PORRES (12606 Crosby Lynchburg Rd., Crosby), 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. $15 plates includes catfish fillets, potato salad, green beans and bread. Pre-order by calling 281-328-3601 on the Thursday before the dinner sales.

ST. PETER CLAVER (6005 N. Wayside Dr., Houston), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary 152 and parish volunteers serve $15 two-piece fish dinner, $15 crawfish etouffee or a both for $20. All dinners include green beans, potato salad, green salad, bread, slice of cake and water or soda. $7 fish sandwiches also available.

MARCH 31

ST. FRANCES CABRINI (10727 Hartsook St., Houston), 12 to 6 p.m. Sponsored by La Sociedad Guadalupanas, $13 plates include fried fish, French fries, coleslaw, roll and a drink.

ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST (800 W. Baker Rd., Baytown), Lunch 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner 5 to 7 p.m. Dine in or takeout. 5 to 7 p.m. Sponsored by the Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court Mary St. John #2197, meals are catered by Catfish on Wheels and cost $12. Tickets available at the door. 281837-8180.

To find more listings online, visit the website at WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.

MILESTONES

Sandy Higgins honored with SWLC ‘Faithful Servant’ award

HOUSTON — Each January at the Annual Study Week, the Southwest Liturgical Conference (SWLC) presents “Faithful Servant” awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the work of liturgical renewal in the region.

These awards are a sign of commendation and appreciation for those who have worked faithfully in a variety of liturgical ministries; they also serve as inspiration and encouragement for those who are just beginning to work in the area of liturgy and liturgical music.

This year, the honor was bestowed on Sandy Higgins, retired director of the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese.

“Frankly, I was incredulous and speechless when I was told,” she said. “It is a humbling experience.”

The award is not automatically given annually but only when the committee deems someone contributing significantly to the work of liturgical renewal in the Southwest region of the U.S.

Higgins worked at St. Ignatius of Loyola parish in Spring for five years, then became the associate director in charge of formation for the Office of Worship for 10 years. She was later named the director of the Office of Worship, where she worked for six years. She retired in May 2021.

“Recently, I had been consulting with the office as it searched for a new director of the Office of Worship and will continue on for a bit to facilitate a smooth transition,” she said. Recently, the Archdiocese named Dr. Adam Brill as the new director.

Higgins continues to teach for the Office of Worship and parishes, when asked. She has stayed active as an associate member on the SWLC board of directors, working on

the virtual Southwest Liturgical Conferences in 2021, 2022 and 2023. She continues to assist as a worship coordinator at her parish, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

“In my retirement, I am enjoying more time with my husband, my children and their spouses and my grandchildren, which brings me great joy,” she said.

The SWLC represents lay, religious and ordained liturgists and liturgical commisions in dioceses in states including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. †

Need Help?

Catholic Charities

Food, clothing, emergency financial assistance, counseling, immigration assistance, veterans assistance, disaster recovery, refugees services, senior services and more. catholiccharities.org/need-help or 713-526-4611

Society

of St. Vincent de Paul

Home visits, food network, disaster relief, clothing and furniture. svdphouston.org/get-help or 713-741-8234

San José Clinic

Primary and specialty health care services, counseling and mental health services, dental and vision. sanjoseclinic.org or 713-228-941

to share? To submit a photo of a place, group or event that you would like to see in the Herald, email it to tch@archgh.org

HOUSTON — Catholic Extension, which works in solidarity with people to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities in America’s poorest regions, honored Trinidad “Trini” Mendenhall with the Spirit of Francis Award.

Mendenhall, who co-founded Fiesta Mart Inc. with her late husband, O.C., in 1972, was honored for her legacy of generosity and support for the marginalized, both in the Houston community and beyond.

She received the Catholic Extension award at a Feb. 17 dinner in Houston. Attendees included the 2019 Spirit of Francis Award recipient, retired Bishop Curtis J. Guillory of Beaumont. The dinner also honored the memory of the late Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, who died Sept. 19, 2022, at age 91. The prelate headed the Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston from 1985 until his retirement in 2006.

Mendenhall has been dedicated to philanthropic efforts in the Houston community and in the state of Texas for more than two decades. In 1997, alongside her late husband, Mendenhall founded the Trini and O.C. Mendenhall Foundation, which empowers women, minorities and children. In September 2002, she established the Mendenhall Asthma Research Laboratory at Baylor’s Biology of inflammation Center in memory of her husband.

She told the audience at the dinner that “as a woman and mother,” it is in her nature “to be nurturing and caring” and to always practice her Catholic faith “by following what our good Lord called us to do: Love one another.”

Mendenhall said she was humbled and honored to receive the award, adding that philanthropy is for her “the joy of

helping the most vulnerable people in our community that makes it all worthwhile.”

Her commitment to her Catholic values and her Houston community are made evident by her work on behalf of children, women and the vulnerable. She serves on the board of Catholic Charities and her foundation endows scholarships for the CROSS Academies and the College of Education of the University of Houston.

She has served on the numerous boards including for Ronald McDonald House, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, University of St. Thomas, Houston Ballet Public Affairs Committee, University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American Studies Excellence Endowment Campaign Committee, United Way’s Women’s Initiative and more.

Proceeds of the dinner benefitted Catholic Extension’s work in Texas in memory of Archbishop Emeritus Joseph A. Fiorenza. †

Do you have a photo you’d like

Trini Mendenhall honored for her generosity, support for the marginalized

COURTESY PHOTO Sandy Higgins, center, received the Faithful Servant Award at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring. Pictured with her from left are: Dr. Dan Giradot, Father Leon Strider, Dr. Rick Lopez and her husband, Deacon Mike Higgins.

TRINIDAD “TRINI” MENDENHALL