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It’s an old Texas saying – oft quoted and attributed to many wise Texans -“You gotta dance with the one that brung ya!” At St. Austin’s our priorities are clear. We put Love first and Love puts people first. Our careful approach to safety protocols has been very successful in keeping our community well. Consistent with our faith’s respect for life, we’ll continue to dance with the policy that got us here – we require face masks on campus. We’ll have hand sanitizer abundantly available. This week, we’ll review our capacity limits and distancing and keep you advised of any changes. Expect a reservation process for Masses on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday. You’ll see more next week. Until then, there’s plenty more for this season of intentional change at Lent.

This week, Fr. Paolo shares a story of a 2017 Texas disaster, and then invites us to “take a more universal perspective beyond our narrow experiences.” Pope Francis encourages us to pull away from individualism and toward a broader view in Let Us Dream. Read our young shepherd's thoughts on embracing the many crises of this time to grow in empathy, compassion, and generosity in From Padre Paolo.

Pray with our RCIA elect, candidates, and our teen and adult confirmandi.

Learn about our Outreach leadership team, meet Richard Gaunt, and say a little prayer for our expectant Mom and her baby. Then our SVdP conference offers a reflection from a recent workshop. Find it all in JUSTNews.

Enjoy the tale of Scouting at St. Austin's in this week's Adventures in the Archives.

Learn what’s new at the National and local level in this week’s Knightly News!

It seems now that folks have to waltz across Texas to find appointments for vaccination. As rates of vaccination rise quickly with greater supply and registration processes improve, some seniors still struggle with getting an appointment. Do the seniors in your circle of care, your family, friends, and neighbors have their vaccinations? Is that an opportunity for you to give a little Lenten love? A parishioner’s developed a guide, taped a video, and shared her experience with us. Find out how you can help the vaccination effort at Together Apart.

It’s an earworm – a few notes of the tune from Madagascar and you won’t get it out of your head for hours! In its defense, it has a great beat and you can dance to it. And a great team of volunteers known as the Trash & Treasure Committee have a great beat, and they’re helping us work through our offices. We are grateful for the gift of their time. We’re sorting through the decades – files and piles and books and treasures and trash, we’ve got it all. With our treasured volunteers we’re deciding what stays, what goes to storage nearby but off-site or farther away – see Fr. Chuck’s appeal, and what just GOES! We ask your prayers as we move toward another important milestone, on March 19th, the feast of St. Joseph, patron of builders, when we meet again with the diocese. Join our prayer that all will be well with the prayer at Our Development Journey.

There’s nothing like floating across a dancehall floor with a smooth partner – for us that’s YOU! Your continued generosity keeps doors open, our lights on, and our programs vibrant. We give thanks daily for your gifts of time, talent, and Treasure.