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MESSAGES FROM FR. RUDI~
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February 27, 2025A Message from Fr. Rudi~
Lent is around the corner, begins on March 05. Many people wonder why so many people flock to church just to receive a pinch of ashes. As priests, it is a joy to see one’s church is full at least once a year. It marks the beginning of these 40 days with Jesus; fasting, praying and giving alms. It is time to give up our vices like drinking, smoking, drugs, immoral attachments and many other vices. Mother Church, in its divine wisdom, gives chances to all children to begin anew to live the life of Christ.Healing a boy with mute demon, Jesus answers his disciples why they could not expel the Demon. Some demons are hard to expel, explains Jesus. It requires not only faith but also requires prayer, penance and fasting.
That’s why these forty days are important for Catholics to revive their spiritual lives. We are all called to look at our lives and reassess what is needed to gain eternal life. It is better to lose a member of our body rather than enter into Gehenna says Jesus. That is why we begin this season of lent by putting ashes on our foreheads and calling ourselves to a deep conversion so that our souls can be saved from eternal death.
Many of us start this Lenten season earnestly but only a few survive. Jesus says only those who survive to the end will be saved. So, my dear companions in the journey to heaven, let us brace up for this great season of lent and cast out the demons from our lives and be saved.
Fr. Rudolf Crasta
Our parish community:
July 10, 2023The road we travel:
Since 1962 our community has been travelling on this path to salvation with sincere efforts. Looking back 61 years of winding roads of discipleship, we have come a long way. It is a sheer joy to see how many have received the sanctifying grace through thousands of Baptisms, confirmations, weddings, quinces and how many have been consoled though funerals. It is difficult to count how many have been fed with the bread of life week after week in this community. Looking back, the three church buildings that were built to worship God, the hall of almost 35 years which has been used heavily to catechize our children and adults, to share a meal as to build a community. For the past 25 years, I have personally witnessed the journey of this community. The young at heart will never give up serving this community, seems like till the day of their death.
Abraham in his old age made his faithful servant to take solemn oath never takes his only son back to the place he left. Lot and his wife were asked by God never to look back. So too we as a community need to learn from the past with a grateful heart and yet move forward from the place and time of toady. We know that our destination is heaven. The path that we take as a community is very important. As we prepare to the upcoming scholastic year (school year) let us come together how we can carve out our way towards our salvation. Let’s build new highways and bridges towards God and a great wall against the evil one.
We need parents to help the catechists, catechists to be trained and priests and deacons to facilitate this process. Stuck in our old ways will never and not open to doors that lead us the open heart of Jesus.
Thank you for all that you do for our parish. I hope I see your cooperation to build a community for the greater glory of God.
God bless you and keep you,
May his face shine upon you
And be gracious to you.
Fr. Rudi Crasta
Parishioners of Our Lady of Grace-
A bulletin Message from Fr. Thomas, December 25th~
Hello Devotees of Our Lady of Grace,
Soon the long-awaited day will be here. We hope all our preparations will bear fruit as we wish each
other a very Merry Christmas. Hundreds and
thousands of families will be travelling to celebrate
this day with their families and children and grand-
kids. The grandparents look forward to the pranks
and naughtiness of the grandkids. It is truly a
home coming.
There is a beautiful thought given by the British poet and theologian, Chesterton. He was a brilliant mind who could think deep thoughts andexpress them well. One weakness he had was that
he would forget many things. Over the years he
was famous for forgetting. He could forget where
he was or where he should be or what he was supposed to do.
On one such occasion he sent a telegram to his wife with these words, “Honey, I
am in the market place in Harbarough, where
am I supposed to be?” As only a spouse could
say it, she telegrammed him back with one word,
“Home”.
Friends, the church for the last four weeks has
been speaking to us directly instead of a telegram,
‘a call to be home’ with our dear and near ones.
How are the roads that we travelled for the last
four weeks? Are they made straight? The pot
holes in our lives, are they filled? The heaps of
sin, called the mountains in our hearts, are they
leveled? Have we tried to fill the valleys, level them
with our good works? Have we made the slightest
spiritual improvement to be at home? I am sure
there will still be hundreds out there struggling to
be at home and cannot find the way. Let us pray
for them and for our men and women of the armed
services who are way from their families. This is a
great time of divine hope. We have the Emmanuel
with us. And he has made
a home with us to save us from our sins.
There is still an invitation stretched out to us from the manger. Let us embrace this day of the baby of Bethlehem.
Merry Christmas,
Father J. Thomas
A Bulletin Message from November 20th~“Viva Cristo Rey” can be heard throughout the whole world as 2 billion Catholics spread through the world. This feast also brings to our minds the end of the liturgical year meaning, Catholics wake up to the reality of Jesus’ second coming could be any time. While each one of us has to be prepared and yet not stop doing what is right and earn each ones living.
Next week as we begin advent season we not only prepare ourselves to commemorate the first coming we also think of the second coming to judge the living and the dead. Are we generous like our King Jesus in sharing our gifts with the less fortunate and our forgiveness with those who have offended us?
Does our parish community works together for the glory of God or are we fanning our own vanity about how I do things around? As your priest and called to ‘father’ my people, I have to prepare this community to reflect the ‘face of Jesus.' I wish to have a young couple’s (ages 18 to 38) group and a ‘young adults’ group 21+ who can set their own agenda to follow Christ.
I wish ‘The Christ Life program’ to flourish with more attendance. Please read the bulletin on how you can catch up on the last semester and join this program in January.
I wish the parents of first communion and confirmation candidates take more interest in attending the classes with their ward. I wish to meet each confirmation candidate in my office for an interview.
I wish more people attend the faith alive classes to prepare themselves for these three years of ‘Eucharistic revival’ proposed though out our country, especially through our diocese. I also wish for a grief support group for the parishioners of Our Lady of Grace.
Your priest’s wish list for Christmas is ready. Will you bless my life with the gifts I have asked for? Help me to be a better priest.
Thank you,
Fr. Rudolf Crasta.
Parishioners of Our Lady of Grace-
A Bulletin Message from November 13th~
Jesus founded our Catholic church on the foundation of the Apostles and St. Peter as the ROCK, “on whom I will build my church”. The Vatican chooses the successors of the apostles throughout the world to head each diocese. One of the administrative jobs of the bishop is to appoint priests in every town of the diocese to care for the souls of the people by preaching the Gospel and sanctifying them through sacraments. St. Paul makes this very clear wring to St. Titus: 1-9 “For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious.”
So pray for your priests and for our bishop Robert Coerver. “For a bishop as God's steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.” A tall order of expectation is placed on the bishops.
As it is the responsibility of the faithful to support their local church as for us it is Our Lady of Grace. A proportionate of our income goes to the upkeep of the parish and the priest. So also the parish gives a proportionate income to the diocese so that the bishop is not occupied with fundraisers rather than doing his work of salvation. Our Diocese has asked each parish to pay 15.5% of our income as Cathedraticum to the diocese and also asks 10.5 % of our income to pay for ministries (ACOM).
Our parish owes the Diocese $165,000 towards Cathedraticum alone. Therefore our finance committee decided to pay $50,000 this month just to catch up. By June 30, 2023, we have to come up with $115,000. I as your priest do not like to talk about money during church service which I like to keep exclusively for sacrifice, worship of Jesus, and preaching his Gospel.
Those of us who are paying a proportionate amount to the church, THANK YOU. Therefore, would you please up your giving by $10/ per week. To place a good example I give 10% of my salary to the parish.
“Give and it shall be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, overflowing, poured into your lap” I have been blessed for my giving. What about you? Malachi 3:10
Parishioners of Our Lady of Grace
A Message on Vocations
June 29,20222
It is very important to check facts and to gather all information before we make our decisions for life. When Jesus says, ‘the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few, pray to the master of the harvest to send laborers to the field’, he knew there are millions of people who are hungry for the word of God and thirsty for the living water.
Diocese of Lubbock is one of the 196 dioceses in our country. Our diocese consists of 25 counties and has over 136,000 self-proclaimed Catholics. Around 25,000 alone actively practice their faith and fulfill their Sunday obligations. They all need to be brough back to the sacraments of the church that they may also be saved to eternal life. In Lubbock alone there over 60,000 self-proclaimed Catholics and only 12,000 practice their faith regularly.
We need priests and religious brothers and sisters who can dedicate their lives to bring the harvest to the master. I have heard enough complaints from outskirts of the diocese about international priest-that they are hard to understand and that they don’t understand the culture of the place. It is time to foster vocations in our own homes.
Parents these days do not pray with their family let alone pray for vocations from our own homes. Some parents load their own will on their children and others let their children decide what they want.
On the contrary pray with your children and help them to discern what God wants from them. The only way to be happy is to do the will of God. How many of our children are lost in this world because we parents let them do what they want. Its not too late let’s begin a culture of discernment for our children to find out what’s God will for them.
Harvest is plentiful but the Laborers are few. God is asking, ‘Whom shall I send? Are there any one to say, ‘Here I am Lord, I come to do your will’.I
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Rudolf Crasta
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