Dear parishioners of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church,

One year ago, I arrived in Corsicana after Bishop Farrell had entrusted me the task to help shepherd our Church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception. I remember fondly meeting my first parishioner here as he was leaving the office. He told me all about his ministry to the prison and to those in the nursing homes. I found out quickly he was not alone in doing such a noble ministry.

I toured our great school and saw many excited children thirsting to learn and teachers dedicated to teach. I visited the youth group and found a core of adults helping the teens to integrate their faith into their daily lives. Dinner invitations and visitations to the different communities of the Neocatechumenal Way ensued and I learned that they comprised of some of our most faithful and well-educated Catholics. Confirmation happened on Dec. 8th and I saw dozens of young people receive the fullness of the initiation sacraments. Religious Education classes had hundreds enrolled. Our Church met every month at a parish supper and there was hospitality ministry after the 9:30 AM mass. Everywhere I looked there were many people seeking to serve and help out. This I found is a strength of our parish.

Over the course of the year there has been some changes to improve our infrastructure. Physically, we created a more proper plaza in front of Church, renovated the interior of the Church, renovated the Holy Angel’s Chapel (Office Chapel), placed security lighting, fencing, and most recently we have a new bell system and a rosary garden around the statue of Mary. We also have had a successful financial campaign to finish the sanctuary and sacristy floor which we will have completed before Easter. Finally, the parish and school has replaced a number of air conditioning units and over Christmas, the school will have new flooring placed in its foyer and main hallway. These are just the most apparent of the physical updates that have occurred through your generosity and hard work over the past year.

More important to me than physical updates was the healing and growth in faith. I sought over the course of the year to help us heal from our past hurts through bringing us to encounter Jesus Christ. I sought out to have parish missions (1 in the spring and 1 in the fall), establish Christ Renews His Parish Retreats (CHRP), Offering the Catholicism video series, bringing in musicians and speakers to help us heal, opening us up to another Neocatechumenal Community and providing a Bible study opportunity. During Lent we expanded our Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which is now a weekly occurrence. We also started a group to help people heal from the loss of loved ones in their lives. All of this to help us to grow in our love for Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives.

We saw many new opportunities and experiences within the liturgy. The largest happened as I arrived with the new translation of the Roman Missal. At all the English Masses, we suddenly changed how we celebrated. It took us all a while to catch on, and yes even me, but now we are celebrating well what the Church has given us. We added another Mass which has been very successful to help provide more opportunities for our spanish speaking people to comfortably worship Jesus. We had a series of new trainings for liturgical ministers (altar servers, EM’s, and Lectors). We looked to celebrate well the liturgical days and added the blessing of animals, Corpus Christi Procession, and the cemetery Mass to our times of worship. Rosary groups and charismatic worship groups grew too during the past year.

To help bind us together as one community, we have sought to provide a new way of doing the parish festival. We also added a parish gala. Both were successful and we look forward to growing these communal events for next year. We had the highly successful summer concert series that provided an opportunity for us to gather together as a Church. Our parish suppers went well and our soup suppers during Lent was highly successful.

Finally, we have sought hard to lead the parish administratively and being a good steward of the resources (time, talent, and treasure) that people have given to us. We have sought to grow the pastoral council and their envisioning capabilities. We have looked to make sure our procedures and policies are more sound and that we can give you the best service possible. We have looked to expand our communication through the bulletin, inserts, website, and facebook. I look forward this year to implementing a strategic plan for the parish that will guide the parish for the next 3-5 years.

These are just a few of the rich opportunities that we have had over the last year. I know that this upcoming year will bring many more joys, some sufferings, and ultimately more opportunities for us to grow in our discipleship of Jesus Christ. I walk with you my friends and am dedicated to serve, love and help you know Jesus through Mary. Thank you for your generosity and service and I look forward to the blessings God has in store for us for this upcoming year.

In Corde Iesu,

Fr. Jason Cargo (Your Pastor)