We're so excited to have you join our parish family. We're a small parish under the pastoral and spiritual care of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tyler.
Every member of our parish strives to live out our parish mission. We give of our individual gifts to help our community thrive. A great way to participate in that mission is to join one of our many parish ministries.
You're going to love being a member of this community, and we can't wait to meet and welcome you!
Now that you've joined the Our Lady of Sorrows community, we'd like to invite you to register your family. Just download and fill out our registration form and mail it to the office. You can also stop by the church office to register.
Registration helps us to better know how to serve you. Don't forget to call your old parish and let them know that you've moved!
Whether you've been gone for four weeks, four years, or four decades, you're always welcome in your home, the Catholic Church.
Something has brought you to this point, and we're joyful that you're considering coming home. We are a people on a mission, on a journey back to our Heavenly homeland. In our pews you'll find young people, retirees, and men and women of all ages and professions. You'll find divorcees, widows, young families, tradesmen, and single people from all races and ethnic backgrounds. What binds us all together is our faith in Jesus Christ and what holds us together is the Eucharist.
We want to invite you to come back, to rejoin the Church, and to start receiving the Sacraments again and be an integral part of our community. We're broken people who have made mistakes. But we choose to keep fighting, to keep working to live up to the ideal that Jesus laid out for us and our lives.
The Catholic faith is rich, diverse, and full of wonder. Your first step to coming home is to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or just visit with a priest and get some direction) and to start attending Mass on Sunday.
Your journey home is just beginning, and we're ready to walk with you every step of the way.
The decision to convert to Catholicism is a turning point in your life. We welcome new members each spring at the Easter Vigil Mass. People who feel called to Catholicism come from all walks of life. What brings them together is their shared desire to more intimately know Jesus Christ, and to receive Him in the Eucharist, to be an integral part of a great spiritual tradition and to belong to a community of faith.
Before entering the Church, catechumens (the name we give to people studying to become Catholic) undergo a comprehensive educational process called the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, or RCIA. This program provides a thorough education in the beliefs, practices, doctrines, and spiritual traditions of the Catholic Church. During the process, you'll have a sponsor and the opportunity to ask any question you might have. This educational process prepares you to receive the Sacraments and be immersed into the Catholic spiritual tradition. Throughout RCIA, you'll feel the support of our community as you take part in our liturgies and activities.
We've provided a few links below to help you learn more about the Catholic faith and the RCIA process. We invite you to call the Parish Office and start your journey. This is going to be a decision that you'll celebrate for the rest of your life, and we can't wait to share in your joy!