The Friday E-Pistle

A message from Bishop Vásquez

Official appointments

• Most Rev. Daniel E. Garcia, canonical pastor at St. Mary Parish in Wimberley, effective Aug. 20, 2016.
• Very Rev. Juan Carlos Lopez, administrator at St. Mary Parish in Hearne, effective Sept. 3, 2016.
• Rev. David Leibham, pastor at Santa Cruz Parish in Buda, effective Sept. 3, 2016.
• Deacon Michael Forbes has been assigned to St. William Parish in Round Rock and as a Judge in the Office of Canonical and Tribunal Services, effective Sept. 1, 2016.
• Deacon Dan Wright has been assigned to St. Austin Parish in Austin, effective Sept. 1, 2016.

Special Collection: Sept. 18

At the request of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops all parishes in the Diocese of Austin are asked to take up a special collection to aid the victims of the 2016 Louisiana floods. The money collected the weekend of Sept. 17-18 will be used to support the humanitarian efforts of Catholic Charities USA and to provide pastoral and rebuilding support to the dioceses with flood damage.

Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities

Acknowledging the recent incidents of violence and racial tension in communities across the country, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited all dioceses across the country to unite in a Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities on Friday, Sept. 9, the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver. In addition to the activities happening around the diocese, Bishop Joe Vásquez will celebrate Mass at St. Austin Parish at 8:15 a.m. All are invited to attend.

Offices closed

All diocesan offices will be closed on Sept. 5 in observance of Labor Day. Offices will reopen on Sept. 6.

Pastoral Plan implementation

• Part of the implementation process for the Pastoral Plan includes reflective presentations by Bishop Joe Vásquez and Bishop Daniel Garcia. All are invited to attend one of their presentations in Spanish or English. The first one is Sept. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Parish in Pflugerville, where Bishop Vásquez will offer his presentation in Spanish.  These fliers can be used to advertise this and upcoming events.
• The Core Team is happy to announce that 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.​

Reflection question

Gospel meditation

Consider using the following meditation for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sept. 11):

• Today’s parables sounded absurd to the listeners in Jesus’ day. Each highlights the intense boundless love with which God searches for the lost, as well as the irrationally exuberant joy when the lost are found. The final parable paints a scene of a father who has nothing but total love for his children. One has completely rejected and insulted his family and his faith. The other is a self-righteous child who has never done wrong. How do we act in the role of the father toward others who meet these descriptions? Whom do we fail to love or forgive? What sin do we believe is too big for God’s love, mercy and forgiveness? Does self-righteousness prevent us from being in loving relationships with others?
• La parábola de hoy sonaba absurda para quienes la escuchaban en el tiempo de Jesús. Ella resalta el intenso amor con el que Dios busca a quienes se han perdido, y el irracionalmente exuberante gozo experimentado cuando lo perdido se ha encontrado. La parábola final pinta una escena de un padre que no tiene más que un amor total por sus hijos. Uno ha rechazado completamente e insultado a su familia y su fe. El otro es un hijo engreído que nunca ha cometido ningún mal ¿Cómo actuamos en el papel del padre hacia otros a quienes conocemos con esas descripciones? ¿A quien fallamos al no amar o perdonar? ¿Qué pecado creemos que es demasiado grande para el amor de Dios, la misericordia y el perdón? ¿El creernos muy buenos nos impide tener relaciones amorosas con otros?

Stewardship and Development

2016-2017 CSA Training Sessions

Priests, parish secretaries, business administrators, CSA coordinators, and stewardship and development administrators are strongly encouraged to attend one of the training sessions for this year’s Catholic Services Appeal. Please register for the session that works best for you.

Please RSVP online by Sept. 13, 2016.

• Sept. 20 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Austin – Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center
• Sept. 20 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Austin – Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center
• Sept. 21 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Austin – Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center
• Sept. 21 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Austin – Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center
• Sept. 22 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Waco – St. Jerome Parish, Jordan Hall
• Sept. 22 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Temple – St. Mary Parish, Ave Maria Building, Regina Caeli Room
• Sept. 27 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Burnet – Our Mother of Sorrows Parish, Parish Hall
• Sept. 28 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Kyle – St. Anthony Marie de Claret Parish, Joseph Room, Holy Family Building
• Sept. 29 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Bryan – St. Anthony Parish, Multipurpose Building
• Sept. 29 from 1:30 to 3 p.m.at Brenham – St. Mary, Immaculate Conception Parish, PAC

Weekly notes

Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request

Please consider Bishop Vásquez’ prayer request for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary (Sept. 11):

• For the People of God, that we would be examples of God’s unconditional mercy to all people especially those in our families and those who feel lost …
• Por la Gente de Dios, para que seamos ejemplos de la misericordia incondicional de Dios para toda la gente, especialmente en nuestras familias y para aquellos que se sienten perdidos...

Blessings and congratulations to …

The following priests on the anniversary of their ordination during the month of September:

• Rev. Melesio Peter Espinoza, Sept. 9, 1995
• Rev. Isidore Ndagizimana, Sept. 10, 1985
• Rev. Scott Mikkelson, Sept. 11, 1982
• Rev. Ramiro Tarazona Jerez, Sept. 20, 2008
• Rev. Luis Alberto Caceres, Sept. 23, 2008
• Rev. Florencio Rodriguez, TOR, Sept. 27, 1980
• Rev. Alirio Fernandez-Bueno, Sept. 28, 1996

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.