The Friday E-pistle

A message from Bishop Vásquez

Official appointments

• Rev. Matthew Kinney, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in La Grange, effective Aug. 1, 2016.
• Rev. Luis Alberto Caceres, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Cedar Park, effective Aug. 1, 2016.
• Rev. Jose Eduardo Jazo Tarin, TOR, pastor of Dolores Parish in Austin, effective Aug. 1, 2016.

Reflection question

Gospel meditation

Consider using the following meditation for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sept. 4):

• Jesus continues to stress the seriousness of true discipleship. In today’s Gospel, Jesus attempts to give a wakeup call to his followers. Jesus wants us to give ourselves entirely to him. To hold onto or seek anything more than God can be seen as idolatry. What possessions or relationships prevent us from offering ourselves completely to God?
• Jesús continúa poniendo énfasis en la seriedad del verdadero discipulado. En el Evangelio de hoy, Jesús trata de despertar a sus seguidores. Jesús quiere que nos entreguemos por completo a Él. Aferrarnos o buscar algo más que a Dios puede ser visto como idolatría ¿Qué posesiones o relaciones nos impiden ofrecernos a nosotros mismos por completo a Dios?

Pastoral Plan

New microsite address

The diocese has developed a microsite for the Pastoral Plan, which can be accessed on the main diocesan website (www.austindiocese.org) or directly at www.austindioceseplan.org. The site may be viewed in Spanish or Vietnamese and offers a variety of resources and other web links for each objective of the Pastoral Plan. We will continue to add new information and links to the site to keep people updated and informed about what is happening with the Pastoral Plan as well as ways to implement the plan.

Hispanic Ministry

V Encuentro

• The V Encuentro process is an invitation from the Catholic bishops to every Catholic in the U.S. to grow in becoming authentic and joyful missionary disciples, by continually learning and following Jesus’ steps as we share the Good News. The V Encuentro process has begun in our diocese, and we invite you to come and learn about it and find out how you, your family, your ministry and your parish can be part of this process. Join us at one of our introductory sessions listed on this flier. All sessions will be bilingual (in English and Spanish). Registration is not required, but we encourage attendees to register online. For more information, call (512) 949-2426.
• El proceso del V Encuentro es una invitación de los obispos a cada católico en los EE.UU. para involucrarse en convertirse en discípulos misioneros auténticos y alegres, que continúan aprendiendo y siguiendo los pasos de Jesús, mientras van compartiendo la Buena Nueva. El proceso del V Encuentro ha iniciado en nuestra diócesis, y lo invitamos a venir y conocer más de ello y averiguar cómo usted, su familia, su ministerio y parroquia pueden ser parte de este proceso. Acompáñenos en una de las sesiones introductorias que aparecen en este volante. Todas las sesiones serán bilingües, inglés y español. La inscripción no es requerida, pero animamos a los asistentes a inscribirse en línea. Para más información llame al (512) 949-2426.

Worship Office

Liturgical resources orders

Once again, the Worship Office is pleased to offer 2016-17 annual liturgical resources from Liturgy Training Publications (LTP) at a discounted rate off of the list prices. In order for each parish to receive the diocesan discount, orders must be placed through the Worship Office. There is no deadline for orders, however, all orders must be prepaid by check (made out to the Diocese of Austin) or ordered online. Once your order is received in the Worship Office with payment, we will notify you and place the order with LTP. The order will be shipped directly to the church’s physical address on the order form via UPS regular ground. Please note orders may take up to two weeks for delivery. For any additional assistance, please contact Sara in the Worship Office at (512) 949-2429. 

Evangelization, Catechesis and Family Life

Diocesan Women’s Conference 

The diocesan Catholic Women’s Conference, “The Face of Mercy,” scheduled for Aug. 27 in Georgetown, is now filled to capacity; therefore, registration is closed. Many thanks to all who promoted the conference and to the many volunteers who have been preparing to make this inaugural conference a great success! Save the date for next year’s Women’s Conference: Sept. 23, 2017.

Texas Catholic Conference

Render unto Caesar

A three-part webinar of Catholic teaching on life issues and civic engagement is being hosted by the Texas Catholic Conference and the Catholic Pro-Life Committee of the Diocese of Dallas. The live, hour-long webinars will be held at 7 p.m. on Aug. 31, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14. Free registration is available at http://bit.ly/2aIbraA. Becky Visosky, director of communications for the Catholic Pro-Life Committee, will facilitate the online discussions.

• On Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. Karen Garnett, a member of the Catholic Pro-Life Committee from the Diocese of Dallas, will examine the issue of abortion and lead a discussion on balancing issues when voting.
• TCC Executive Director Jennifer Carr Allmon will discuss end-of-life issues and citizen engagement beyond the voting booth on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. 
• The death penalty and the dignity of the human person will be covered by Karen Clifton of the Catholic Mobilizing Network on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. 

For more information, visit https://www.prolifedallas.org/webcast.

Weekly notes

Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request

Please consider Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sept. 4):

• For our Church, that we, the people of God, would seek God above everything else, we pray…
• Por nuestra Iglesia, para que nosotros, la gente de Dios, busquemos a Dios sobre todo lo demás, oremos...

Save the date for World Priest Day

World Priest Day is a celebration and affirmation of the men who commit their lives to the Lord and the church via the sacrament of Holy Orders. It is an opportunity for Catholic parishioners to thank, affirm and share their love and support for our priests. This year the Austin-Central Texas Area Worldwide Marriage Encounter Community will honor our priests along with deacons and seminarians within the Diocese of Austin on Oct. 20 at St. William Parish in Round Rock. Invitations will be sent out soon.

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.