OUR LADY OF SORROWS CHURCH
Welcome
Welcome, and thank you for visiting Our Lady of Sorrows Church online. We hope that our website gives you the information you are seeking. Please feel free to read more about our church on this site, or come in for a visit. We would love to greet you and share with you our love for Jesus Christ and for you, our neighbor.
Our Faith
We believe that the door to salvation is always open and so are the doors to our church. Our mission is to be fully devoted to Jesus by opening our arms to those in search of the truth. We show God’s love and concern for our fellow man at every opportunity. Through works of charity and opening our doors to listen and love, we feel that we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
Mass Times
Mass is held in the Church:
Saturday evening at 4:30 PM
Sunday Morning at 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM.
Weekdays: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday at 8:00 AM
Reconciliation: Saturday 3:30-4:00 PM
Baptism by appointment.
Weddings: Begin by calling the parish office 6 months prior to provisional wedding date.
PHONE # 409-752-3571
Office Hours M-W 8--4
Th-F 9--4
The seven sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick—are the life of the Catholic Church. Each sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace. When we participate in them worthily, each provides us with graces—with the life of God in our soul.
Baptism
For Catholics, the Sacrament of Baptism is the first step in a lifelong journey of commitment and discipleship. Whether we are baptized as infants or adults, Baptism is the Church's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God.
Eucharist
Catholics believe the Eucharist, or Communion, is both a sacrifice and a meal. We believe in the real presence of Jesus, who died for our sins. As we receive Christ's Body and Blood, we also are nourished spiritually and brought closer to God.
Reconciliation
The Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Penance, or Penance and Reconciliation) has three elements: conversion, confession and celebration. In it we find God's unconditional forgiveness; as a result we are called to forgive others.
Confirmation
Confirmation is a Catholic Sacrament of mature Christian commitment and a deepening of baptismal gifts. It is one of the three Sacraments of Initiation for Catholics. It is most often associated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Marriage
For Catholics, the Sacrament of Marriage, or Holy Matrimony, is a public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God's values.
Holy Orders
In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, or Ordination, the priest being ordained vows to lead other Catholics by bringing them the sacraments (especially the Eucharist), by proclaiming the Gospel, and by providing other means to holiness.
Anointing of the Sick
The Catholic Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction, is a ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Christ In You
Catholic Men's Conference
August 21, 2021 7:00am to 3:30 pm
St. Francis of Assisi, Orange, Texas
Purchase tickets and register at Christinyou.info
Cost for admission;
45.00 for one
30.00 for seniors
55.00 for father + son
Bishop David Visits Our Lady of Sorrows
August 22, 2021 10:00a.m. Mass
Please join us us on August 22 for Mass as Bishop David helps us celebrate the Feast of the Queenship of our Blessed Mary. Also, there will be a reception after Mass in the church hall.
TODAY’S READINGS August 1
First Reading — The people of Israel receive bread from heaven in response to their grumbling
(Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15).
Psalm — The Lord gave them bread from heaven
(Psalm 78).
Second Reading — Put on the new self that has been created in God’s way (Ephesians 4:17, 20-24).
Gospel — I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger (John 6:24-35).
THE BREAD OF LIFE
Today’s Gospel has the crowd asking Jesus three questions. First, “When did you get here,” to which Jesus responds by rebuking them for their failure to grasp his miracle as a “sign,” an occasion to put faith in him. Their second question about accomplishing the “works of God” has Jesus respond that faith is the “work” that God wishes. Many scholars believe this is John’s answer to the faith-works dichotomy emerging in the early Christian community. Faith is the work of God in the believer, John would have us understand. The third question asked by the crowd is a request for a “sign” that would allow them to put faith in Jesus, as the manna in the desert allowed the Israelites to put faith in the Lord God. Jesus answers by revealing himself as the “bread of life” that “comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
FEAST OF FAITH
The Preface: Thanksgiving
The preface of the Mass has been called “a poem, the cry of joy and recognition, the song of the world discovering its salvation . . . the certitude of faith making hope spring forth” (Philippe Béguerie, quoted in The Mass, Lucien Deiss, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1992, p. 70). The preface takes up the last words of the dialogue, and expresses briefly and simply why we are grateful, why it is right and just to give thanks and praise to God. On feast days, the preface sings of the specific mystery or saint we celebrate; in Ordinary Time, the Sunday and weekday prefaces express our gratitude for God’s gift of the Son, Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption and newness of life. The prefaces offer a succinct account of what God has done for us in Christ; they express the mystery of faith, always relating it to us, to our lives. “By his birth we are reborn,” we hear in Preface IV for Sundays in Ordinary Time. “By his suffering we are freed from sin. By his rising from the dead we rise to everlasting life.” Yes, we have cause to give God thanks and praise.
REFLECTION
Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.
As we listen to the Discourse on the Bread of Life, we are reminded that on the journey of life, no matter its twists and turns, the Lord continues to travel with us and to care for us, nourishing us with heavenly food as he once fed the Israelites in the desert.