Sometimes we can take for granted the blessings of our Catholic faith living in a quiet, rural part of East-Central Texas. While Leon County has never been known to be a very Catholic part of our great state, there are surprisingly several options when it comes to the practice of our faith. There are three Catholic churches in Leon County: St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Buffalo, St. Leo the Great in Centerville, and St. Thomas More in Hilltop Lakes. (Interestingly enough, these churches’ patron saints are individuals from different walks of life, ethnicities and time periods in the history of the Church.) These churches respectively serve the northern, central and southern parts of Leon County.
Over the course of a weekend, at least six Masses are being offered in Leon County all at different times to accommodate the faithful. These Masses are being offered in English and Spanish, and once a month in Latin (Extraordinary Form at St. Kateri). The 2010 census reports that there are 16,801 residents in Leon County. According to the Diocese of Tyler statistics, there are almost 500 Catholic families in Leon County. Hypothetically, if there were three persons per family, then there would be around 1,500 Catholics in Leon County. Therefore, 8.9% of Leon County would be Catholic, which is probably a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, what a blessing to have three Catholic churches to serve such a small number of Catholic residents! During the week, there are at least seven daily Masses, four Eucharistic Holy Hours, and five hours of confession times being offered. All three churches have a faith formation program for students and adults as well as some form of sacramental prep. In the last two years, St. Kateri’s and St. Leo’s were renovated and St. Thomas More in Hilltop Lakes was built. Therefore, not only do Catholics in this area have places to offer a sacrifice of praise, but they have sacred buildings of inspiring beauty and tranquility in which to do so. How lovely is thy dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! (Psalm 84:1).
The various Catholic churches in Leon County offer Catholic Charities, Project Gabriel (assistance to women in crisis pregnancies), the annual Life Chain (pro-life witness this year Sunday, October 6, 2:30-4:00pm) and support for the inter-ministerial alliance (collaboration with other Christian denominations in the county). If you look around the church on Sunday, you will see white, Latino, black, and even Asian people filling the pews — a sign of the universality of the Catholic Church. All these things make me proud to be a Catholic and a priest in service to Christ’s flock in this part of Texas. Nevertheless, in my day-to-day activities, I continue to meet Catholics who do not practice their faith regularly or who have been away from the Church. I encourage them to return to their faith, to strengthen their relationship with Christ through the sacraments and prayer. It is a reminder that we still have much work to do as Evangelical Catholics in Leon County. Are we prepared to share this great treasure of our faith? Sometimes all it takes is an invitation. People may be surprised to know not only what we offer, but Whom we offer.
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