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Bustling with the busyness of the preparations for the BIG Move It Sale, the Great Giveaway, and our move into the new Ministry Center, we continue to be filled with joy and humility at the generosity of our parishioners. Thank you! Your great response as a community to our calls for help are propelling our move into the future. It is a grace for which we are deeply grateful.

Please come to the sale and encourage family, friends, and your networks to come browse and buy! The array of bargains available is impossible to catalog for you, but we tried to capture it in photos. See what’s on offer at - The BIG Move It Sale

This busy week has not been without moments to pause in reflection, e.g., on Thursday’s Feast of St. Mary of Magdala, one of our parish patrons.

This Sunday at the 11:30 Mass, Martha Gerling Schroeder receives the Lumen Gentium Award. Last weekend we summarized some of Martha’s generosity of time and talent to our community. This week, as promised, we share a bit more about one of our parish’s bright Lights.

With the puzzle of the cubicles successfully solved, we’re about to enjoy the fruits of significant effort as we move into the Ministry Center at 500 West MLK. While work continues before our move begins on July 26, we invite you to see where we are on the path of Our Property Development Journey

As we move forward, we do so reverencing and appreciating our past. We’re collecting memories to share in our fond farewell at the end of August. Please send us your recollections at Celebrate & Remember.

Our Outreach and SVdP volunteers are moving, too! They’re moving mountains to help our neighbors avoid utility cutoffs and evictions through the kind contributions to our Persons in Need collection and Austin Energy’s Plus One Program. The program’s funds are from the donations AE customers make with their utility payments. St. Austin’s is one of many organizations across the city administering those funds. Read more in JUSTNews.

Our Gabriel Project provides support and advocacy through prayer and action to assist new parents in a loving, unconditional, and non-judgmental manner during an unplanned or crisis pregnancy. They invite you to action and prayer during Respect for Life Month this October. Learn more about this invitation and the work of these committed volunteers at The Gabriel Project.

On Publications ~ The eNews will take a 1-week break, so look for our next edition on Friday, August 6, or one will be sent sooner if there’s an urgent matter. The Sunday bulletin will take a 2-week break after July 25, returning on Sunday, August 15.  On Office Hours ~ July 26-30 our parish offices will be closed for the BIG Move. Our phone line will remain open and staffed Monday-Thursday, 9-6, and Friday, 9-4, to receive your calls. It might take extra time to get your message to our shepherds and staff - we are grateful for your patience.

From the BIG Sale to invitations to prayer, our Events page is the place to find out what’s happening in our vibrant community. As we move forward, we’ll use EVENTS to communicate who’s meeting when, who’s doing what, and how you can get involved! Visit Events. Also at the bottom of that page are links to Events around the Diocese of Austin and at Cedarbrake Retreat Center.

Young Catholic Professionals (YCP) challenge, train, and inspire young adults working in various professions to Work in Witness for Christ. There’s more in this Sunday’s bulletin or for more about upcoming events, visit YCPAustin.

On April 29, we tried something new by inviting you to make a commitment or pledge of support to the parish electronically. The appeal came in our Friday eNews. For a couple of weekends at Masses our shepherds invited you to give. There were blue folders with forms in the pews. We are grateful to all who responded with generosity. To give everyone else an opportunity to make their Stewardship pledge, on July 16 we mailed a letter that many received this past Saturday. The Stewardship Pledge campaign is our appeal to parishioners to commit to giving to our Offertory regularly - be it weekly, monthly, or annually. It's a commitment to the Offertory. We ask for pledges so that we can have an idea of what our revenues will be and budget accordingly. These Stewardship-Offertory dollars are what we rely on for our day-to-day operations. If you haven’t yet, please pledge your Stewardship.

Participants in our thought-filled and thought-provoking Wednesday evening conversations on Dorothy Day considered this reflection from page 64 of Praying with Dorothy Day (Companions for the Journey) written by James Allaire and Rosemary Broughton. We share it with you, to sit together, tho’ apart, for a moment of…

A CBS story last weekend featured Nashville residents Andy Gullahorn, a 44-year-old singer-songwriter and his friend, Gabe Scott, a 45-year-old musician and restaurant owner.  Andy is the son of longtime parishioners Patti & Jack Gullahorn and attended our parish school. The newsmaking event? Friends sharing a special high-five. Yep, that's it, a simple gesture, but wait, there's more!

Not one but two students of our parish school submitted winning entries to a Diocesan scholarship contest. Entrants were asked to express, in a creative manner and in any art medium, "why they loved their Catholic School" or "how has Catholic Education made an impact in their lives." We're proud to introduce our scholarship winners, Layden (2nd Grade) & Francie (8th Grade)!

SACS Alumnus  Earns  High Honors We salute Sophia Frey for earning the academic distinction of High Honors by maintaining a GPA of 94 or higher. We're proud of this Eagle now attending St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School who soared to great heights in learning! Bravo, Sophia!

We celebrate two of our many bright lights - Mary Berwick and Gina Chavez. Please read on!

Many find themselves feeling alone, isolated in this time of pandemic. Fight that isolation by reaching out to others! Our community offers many opportunities for engagement, a powerful antidote to loneliness. As the daylight hours grow shorter and darkness falls earlier each evening, we ask you to shine your light! We need your help. Invitations to SHINE!

Lynn Hayden Spirit of Hecker Award, 2020 St. Austin Parish and School chose longtime parishioner LYNN HAYDEN as our community's Spirit of Hecker awardee. Lynn has a special passion for ecumenism and interfaith relations. Several times over the last years she has designed and organized a wonderful hands-on, interactive display on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, engaging both our Jewish and Muslim neighbors, as well as all the facets of our parish, from Kindergarten through Seniors. Lynn also spearheaded an annual Iftar dinner in our parish in collaboration with local Muslim groups, and has organized interfaith events with iAct, the Austin Interfaith Council.

We’re proud to share that St. Austin parishioner and NAMI Central Texas Executive Director Karen Ranus has been named one of Charles Schwab’s Local Heroes for 2020. This program celebrates individuals who dedicate their lives to helping others. Nominated by Schwab employees, Local Hero recipients are honored with a grant of $25,000 to the nonprofit organization with which they are associated. Karen is one of just three individuals being recognized this year.