I was leaving work as usual on Tuesday and was excited to celebrate the feast of our patron Saint Albert the Great the following evening. I was most excited that all my brother clergy - all 3 priests and 6 deacons - will be vested and serving at the Mass. That is the beauty of the Catholic Mass that I love the most, when we all come together under the one banner of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to pray the greatest prayer - the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Then, as I walked through the door, I checked my Slack messages and emails and had to do a double-take. Fr. Charlie posted in Slack and emailed the Knights of Columbus asking for help - "all hands on deck" - because one of the pipes in our sprinkler system broke and water was gushing in the St. Jude transept our our sanctuary. I thought to myself: "Oh, no, not again." This was the third pipe burst in the sanctuary in as many year, the worst of which was on the freezing February night of "snowpoclypse" or "snowmaggedon" in 2021.
When I finally arrived at the church, I was met with a wonderful and inspiring sight - my fellow parishioners rallying behind Fr. Charlie and working quickly to remove and move pews, pump out the water, mop up the water, and gathering what we need and moving these items to the Seton Center where we will be having daily Mass and Confession for what we hope would only be a few days. Our hope is to return to the sanctuary for Mass this weekend. Fr. Charlie quickly put together communication to blast out on the parish's social media sites, FlockNote, web-site, etc. For his part, our director of music moved what he needed to the Seton Center for the Requiem concert the following evening.
Then came the Mass for the Feast of Saint Albert the Great on Wednesday evening - 24 hours after the pipe burst. I arrived at the Seton Center to see folks busying themselves with setting up for Mass - the lectors, the readers of the Prayers of the Faithful (my wife included), the adult and youth altar servers, the tech folks, etc. We all vested in the kitchen (our temporary sacristy) and gathered together there to pray before Mass. As I looked around, I am reminded of how blessed we are to be able to come together for Mass. I prayed for Catholics around the world who are not able to come together to celebrate Mass because of religious persecution, etc. Please join me in praying for our persecuted sisters and brothers in Christ all over the world.
As I mentioned earlier, it is always fun when I get to serve with my brother clergy. Tonight, for the feast of our patron Saint Albert the Great, we had 3 priests, 5 deacons, 2 adult altar servers (both in Diaconal Formation), and 2 wonderful youth altar servers. We were just missing Deacon José Rivera. Deacon Dan Lanicek did a fantastic job setting up the altar that was a lot smaller than the one in the church. Fr. Charlie also did a wonderful job switching between the English and Spanish Roman Missals.
Moreover, Fr. Charlie delivered a wonderful homily, encouraging us to overcome adversities and challenges in our lives by doing more. . . pray more, do more works of charity out of love, and give more in monetary support. In this case, to our parish to help with the repairs and restoration of the church after the pipe ruptured last night. Fr. Charlie's homily reminded me of the email that I sent to those couples who have gone through our CALLED TO BE ONE Marriage Class asking for their help (see below).
As some of you may have already heard or seen on social media, a pipe in the church's sprinkler system ruptured yesterday afternoon (11/14/2023) and released water into the sanctuary. Thankfully, the water gushed for only 15 minutes or so thanks to the quick response of the parish staff. Later that evening and through the night, parish staff and volunteers helped remove the pews, clean up the water, and set up the Seton Center for Mass and Confessions through Friday. We will be back in the church this weekend for Mass.Read more about what happened at this link: https://saintalbert.org/news/important-parish-update-actualizacion-importante-de-la-parroquia.There are several ways for you to help.1. Come to Mass and worship with us. There is great strength when we gather as Catholics and believers under the one banner of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and celebrate the Eucharist - the source and summit of our faith. Here is the Mass schedule: https://saintalbert.org/mass-times.2. Pray, pray, pray. Especially, pray for Fr. Charlie and the parish staff as they navigate this latest challenge, while carrying out the work of God on a daily basis. Even more powerful is praying before the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. He waits for us in the Adoration Chapel so come pray in the presence of our Lord and our God. Here is the Adoration schedule: https://saintalbert.org/adoration.3. Get involved in the life of the parish at St. Albert the Great. Use your God-given gift of time and talent to give Him praise and glory for works of mercy and love, starting with volunteering at the parish. Learn how you can volunteer here: https://www.saintalbert.org/volunteer-opportunities. Also, learn more here about these opportunities in the weekly bulletin: https://discovermass.com/church/st-albert-the-great-austin-tx/ or sign up for FlockNote: https://saintalbert.org/flocknote.Finally, if you feel call to make a monetary donation to the "Not Today Satan" Fund to help with repairs and restoration, then please go here to make your online giving: https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-bin/Vanco_ver3.vps?appver3=Fi1giPL8kwX_Oe1AO50jRtJS5LZUqHcJ0t7-Notx4btfcDUR8Pm2EuvGLceWdCNK2EvVVAEjqawDomKT1pbouZq7vEp5-zz3Ws8HqPqnSJs=&ver=3.
After Mass, we had a procession with the icon of our patron Saint Albert the Great to the courtyard where the dancers waited for us. After that, we returned to the Seton Center for the Requiem concert, where 60 members of our choir and the orchestra and musicians from the University Catholic Center delivered a beautiful piece to wrap up the celebration of our patron Saint Albert the Great. It was a beautiful celebration of not only our patron Saint Albert the Great, but our resilience as a parish family, led by our faithful shepherd, and our trust in God's love, mercy, and providence.
The great saint certainly was watching over us and interceding for us. I pray that he continues to guide us, protect us, and intercede for us. Saint Albert the Great, pray for us.
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