The Friday E-Pistle

A message from Bishop Vásquez

Catholic Services Appeal - Priest Lunch Session

All priests are encouraged to attend a “priest only” Catholic Services Appeal session on Oct. 11 from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the diocesan Pastoral Center. Lunch will be provided.

• New pastors, newly ordained priests, and priests who recently arrived in the diocese are encouraged to attend.
• Topics covered will include previous CSA results, raising awareness, parish materials, the CSA case statement, conducting the appeal, and return procedures.

Please RSVP online or e-mail Laurie Proveaux by Oct. 4. For more information on the Catholic Services Appeal 2016-2017, visit www.austindiocese.org/csa.

Pastoral Plan Implementation

• Ascension Parish in Bastrop will host the final English presentation on the Pastoral Plan by Bishop Joe Vásquez on Oct. 11 from 7 to 9 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity for dialogue and reflection about the Pastoral Plan.
• A new feature of the Pastoral Plan microsite is now available on the first page. Scroll down the page to find "New This Week," which identifies new entries added to the web page. The Core Team is always looking for ideas to share with other parishes that are ways to implement the Pastoral Plan. If you are doing something at your parish and would like to feature it on the Pastoral Plan web page, please send the information to Charlene O’Connell.

Diocesan Adult Confirmation

The registration deadline for diocesan Adult Confirmation is approaching soon. It will be celebrated Oct. 29 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Anthony Marie de Claret Parish in Kyle. The registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 14. Parish registration forms are available on the Worship Office web page. Contact the Office of Worship, if you have any questions about the celebration or registration at (512) 949-2429 or [email protected].

Reflection question

Gospel meditation

Consider using the following meditation for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Oct. 16):

• Today’s readings speak of persistence, faith and trust. With so much violence and conflict in our society, we wonder where is God? The widow cried out for assistance and justice. The unscrupulous judge did not care about her or anyone else. Eventually the judge did what was right and the widow received justice. We might ask, "Where is God in this?" God is in the widow seeking justice and in the judge who delivered justice because of the persistence of the widow. God calls us to be persistent in praying for our needs while seeking assistance from the community with which He surrounds us. God also calls us out of self-centered isolation in order to be God’s merciful hands of justice for others. Do we pray and seek, God? If we do not act for others, who will?
• Las lecturas de hoy nos hablan de persistencia, fe y confianza. Con tanta violencia y conflicto en nuestra sociedad, nos preguntamos ¿Dónde está Dios? La viuda clamaba por asistencia y justicia. El juez sin escrúpulos no se preocupó por ella ni por alguien más. Eventualmente el juez hizo lo que era correcto y la viuda recibió justicia. Podemos preguntarnos "¿Dónde está Dios en esto?" Dios está en la viuda pidiendo justicia y en el juez que impartió justicia por la persistencia de la viuda. Dios nos llama a ser persistentes en oración por nuestras necesidades mientras buscamos asistencia de la comunidad con la que Él nos roda. Dios también nos pide que salgamos del aislamiento de centrarnos en nosotros mismos para ser las manos misericordiosas de justicia de Dios para los otros ¿Oramos y buscamos a Dios? Si no actuamos por los demás, ¿Quién lo hará?

Young Adult Ministry

Theology on Tap

Theology on Tap will take place on Oct. 5 at Santa Rita Cantina (5900W. Slaughter Lane). Nola Flores will give her presentation: A Spiritual Approach to Perfectionism. She will share about struggling with perfectionism and discuss ways we can learn to grow spiritually as we learn to accept and embrace our own shortcomings. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with fellowship and her presentation will begin at 7 p.m. Please contact Jennifer Kodysz for more information.

Life, Charity, and Justice

Living the Good News Conference

Everyone is invited to delve into what it means to serve the least among us at the Living the Good News Conference on Nov. 5 at St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School. The conference will include keynote speakers: Ralph McCloud from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Luisa De Poo of the Diocese of Austin and Joe Paprocki of Loyola Press, as well as various workshops on Catholic education, Catholic Charities, criminal justice, evangezliation and catechesis, black and Hispanic ministries, pro-life activities, missions and more. Catechist/teacher certification credit will be available. Registration is only $25 with lunch included. For more information, call (512) 949-2486.

Vocation Office

Discernment dinner for high school-aged young men

High school men are invited to a Discernment Dinner on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Religious Education Building of St. William Parish at 620 Round Rock West Dr. in Round Rock. Any young man of high school age open to discovering God’s will in his life is welcome. The evening includes dinner, prayer, fellowship and conversation about the priesthood, discernment, prayer and virtue. For more information, please contact Father Froy Jerez.

Weekly notes

Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request

Please consider Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary (Oct. 16):

• For the faithful, that we would be persistent in prayer and quick to assist those who cry out for justice …
• Por los fieles, para que seamos persistentes en oración y prontos en asistir a aquellos que claman por justicia...

Ethics and Integrity in Ministry

EIM Workshop

Click here to login to your EIM account in order to find the workshop schedule and Sign Up for a Workshop (bottom right of your account page). Instructions are provided in case you do not recall how to login to your EIM account. Please contact your parish or Catholic school EIM site administrator if you need assistance or if you do not have Internet access. For general information about EIM workshops, please click here.

EIM Workshops are scheduled by the EIM Office, coordinating with the EIM site administrator at parishes, schools and other diocesan agencies. Staff of any site wishing to host a workshop should coordinate with their EIM site administrator. If the site administrator has arranged workshop details with a facilitator, then an email to the EIM office with those details is sufficient to request a workshop; otherwise workshop requests should be made by the site administrator using the Workshop Request Table. EIM site administrators may direct inquiries about EIM workshop scheduling to Emily Hurlimann in the EIM Office at (512) 949-2447.