Several new t-shirt designs were unveiled at the special Pentecost event that was hosted by the Pastoral Council and parish staff members. Each shirt features our parish's new logo and an accompanying graphic promoting our community. Two choices are available in English and a third option is in Spanish. Sizes range from adult small to 4x and the cost is either $12 or $15. You can get yours from the Adult Ministry office. Thank you for all you do to support our wonderful parish community.

If you have somehow missed hearing about The Shack, the New York Times best-seller about a grieving man's encounter with God, then you've missed an incredibly compelling portrayal of Who God is, at least through the eyes of author William P. Young. In this book, Mackenzie Allen Philip's youngest daughter, Missy, is abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she was brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there changes Mack's world forever. This fall, volunteer catechist Sara Fontana is leading a Shack Shakedown with an eye toward how the book agrees with what the Catholic Church teaches about God, forgiveness, redemption and the meaning of life. Make a point to read this book this summer and plan to participate in Shaking Down The Shack next fall.

 The Adult Ministry Department has big, new plans for this fall, including bringing The Great Adventure Bible study to our parish family. The Great Adventure  is a Catholic Bible learning system that makes the complex simple by teaching the story (the narrative) of the Bible. Jeff Cavins developed The Great Adventure  in 1984 when he realized that most people, despite their strong faith, did not grasp the "big picture" of the Bible.  Though they knew selected stories, they were not able to connect them into a full narrative. His answer was to identify the books of the Bible that tell the story from beginning to end. By reading just these 14 "narrative" books, a chronological story emerges. From this idea grew the immensely popular Bible Timeline program, which teaches the story in a way that is easy to remember and helps people to continue reading Scripture on their own. Hundreds of thousands of Catholics have learned to read the Bible through this system, which provides a solid foundation for all other reading and study. Since the creation of The Bible Timeline, The Great Adventure has  grown into a remarkable system designed to give the average Catholic a solid foundation for a lifetime of Bible reading. Parishes around the world are finding renewed faith and increased involvement among parishioners whose lives have been changed by this exciting study series. Registration information will be available soon.

 2009 LIFE AWARENESS PROGRAM
Thinking about life as a Priest, Sister or Brother? Go to Life Awareness, a weekend of discerning about a religious vocation. The program is open to single Catholics of ages 18 to 45. The Life Awareness Weekend will be held at Holy Name Retreat Center (HNRC), Friday evening through Sunday brunch, July 17 thru 19. There is no fee to attend. Outstanding accommodations, great food and talking to God; sponsored by the Serra Club of Northwest Houston, Vocation Office of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the Holy Name Retreat Center. For more information contact: HNRC at 713-464-0211 or call Jim DeNike at 713-467-4871.