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Often, we tend to view the season of Lent as a time to give up something we enjoy. While the practice of self-denial is indeed important, too often, we tend to focus on what we are giving up and lose sight of what that sacrifice will mean for us as spiritual people.

Although a gift born in faith, the Eucharist is made visible and tangible as the sacrament of God’s presence in the world today. It is the sacrament of Love, that memorializes Jesus’ perfect love on the Cross. 

La Eucaristía, aunque la recibimos como un don, nace en la fe y se hace visible y tangible como sacramento de la presencia de Dios en el mundo de hoy. Es el sacramento del Amor que conmemora el amor perfecto de Jesús en la Cruz. Continúa asegurándonos que el amor de Dios es misericordia.

Believe it or not, Christmas is upon us once again, and a new year will soon dawn. The child in the manger, who is God and man, remains our light and our hope. The Gospel of John reminds us that God loves each one of us so much that He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in Him might have eternal life (Jn 3:16). Though the birth of Jesus was a historical event, the abiding presence of Emmanuel, God with us, continues until the end of the Age (Mt 28:20). He is with us today and will always be among us. He is our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

With great love, joy, and devotion, we gathered as a Diocesan Family to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi this past June. Together we gave honor and praise to the “SOUL” of the Church. Thank you for your contributions and participation. 

El Verbo se hizo carne. Este misterio central de nuestra fe es proclamado en el prólogo del Evangelio de San Juan. También es el gran misterio que celebramos cada Navidad. Dios se hizo hombre. Dios vino a nosotros en carne humana. La Palabra es la persona de Jesucristo. Conocer la Palabra es conocer a Dios. Es en el encuentro con la palabra que conocemos a la persona de Jesús.

The Word became flesh. This central mystery of our faith is proclaimed in the prologue of St. John’s Gospel. It is also the great mystery we celebrate each Christmas. God became man. God came to us in human flesh. The Word is the person of Jesus Christ. To know the Word is to know God. It is by encountering the word that we know the person of Jesus.

South Texas Catholic has a conversation with Bishop Michael Mulvey on Lent, Holy Week and Easter. These events can be an opportunity to encounter Jesus in the Word and reaffirm our belief in His redemptive suffering and resurrection.

South Texas Catholic has a conversation with Bishop Michael Mulvey on the essence of divine love.

Have you ever asked, “what does God see today when He looks at us; Does He see what He planned when He created the human race?” We are made in the image and likeness of God, who is a trinity of persons, a community of persons inseparably united by mutual love.

I want to let you know that starting August 2020, the South Texas Catholic will begin publishing as a quarterly magazine with Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer issues. Each edition will focus on a theme. This new format will offer a strong emphasis on evangelization to lead the reader to an encounter with Christ and a clear understanding of the Gospel and our Catholic faith.  

I promised you last month a more detailed letter describing the vision for the renewal of ourselves as well as the renewal of our diocese. I am happy to announce that that letter has been sent to your pastors, and they will be studying it to provide each parish direction over the coming year. This letter will also be available to you via the diocesan website at diocesecc.org/EC2022 and on a thumb drive to be made available later in January. I invite all of you individually and as organizations and ministries to meditate on the document to ensure that by the time of our great Eucharistic Congress in 2022, our vision of renewal will have begun to take place throughout our entire Diocese.

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, I am reminded of what Blessed Solanus Casey, an American priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, encouraged us to do: “Thank God ahead of time.” Trusting that God has our good at the center of all that he does or permits enables us to let go and let God take care of every situation and with thanksgiving, take all our petitions to him. 

October is Respect Life Month. During this month, let us contemplate how precious life is—a gift from God that needs to be respected, protected, and valued from conception to natural death. Life is always sacred; however, a child’s life is especially sacred because of the child’s defenselessness. We see the status that Jesus gives children clearly in the Gospels.

In seeing what is happening all around us, we may wonder where God is. There have been moments throughout history that make that question even more present. In 1956, Pope Pius XXII invoked the name of God crying out: “God, God, God! as he witnessed the invasion of Hungary. That cry for God then mobilized many Catholics to commit themselves to live the Gospel wherever they were, thus offering God the possibility to “return” into society. To strive to live like the first Christians, witnessing the living presence of God.

“Y encontré deleite en la raza humana”. Leemos estas palabras de Dios en el Libro de Proverbios el domingo de la Santísima Trinidad. Qué profunda realidad es escuchar que Dios se deleita en nosotros. Tomemos un momento para reflexionar sobre esto: podemos ser el deleite de Dios.

“And I found delight in the human race.” We read these words of God in the Book of Proverbs on Trinity Sunday. What a profound reality to hear that God finds delight in us. Let’s take a moment to ponder this: we can be the delight of God.

June 20, 2019, marks the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi, which translates from Latin to “Body of Christ.” This feast celebrates the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, a central mystery of the Catholic Faith. 

The month of May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother.  When we look at her life, we see that Mary is the model of every “yes.” She didn’t know what was before her, but she trusted in God. Mary was already dedicated to the Lord, she was a servant of God in her personal life, but, in a pivotal moment in human history, God called her to trust him completely in becoming the Mother of Christ.

At the beginning of the Lenten season, I invited myself and all of us in the Diocese of Corpus Christi to embark on a journey that has the potential to transform us and bring us closer to God.  I spoke of bringing to prayer the people who hurt us, those who might not be our friends and pray for them by name. I have experienced in my life that true conversation has its roots in prayer.