Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, filled with excitement and anticipation. Let’s place Christ more firmly in our lives this  Christmas season!

In the midst of the Advent season, let us come together to acknowledge the true reason for that excitement and anticipation. On Sunday, Dec. 15, from 6:45 to 7:45 pm in the church, join us for a family night of vibrant praise and worship music along with quiet time in Eucharistic Adoration. Oh come let us adore Him!

Please join us for Mass this Christmas, all are welcome!
“May the joy of Christmas and the peace which the Birth of the Saviour brings into the world be in your hearts forever.” – Pope John Paul II

Christmas Eve – Dec. 24

4:00 pm            Church

4:00 pm            Parish Center Gym

4:00 pm            Waxhaw

4:30 pm            Charlotte Catholic High School

6:00 pm            Church

6:00 pm            Waxhaw

8:00 pm            Church

Midnight*          Church

Christmas Day – Dec. 25

7:30 am            Church

9:00 am            Church

10:00 am           Waxhaw

10:45 am           Church

12:00 pm          Waxhaw

12:30 pm          Church

12:30 pm          Parish Center Gym

 

*Musical prelude for the Midnight Mass begins at 11:30 pm. The Midnight Mass is interpreted for the Deaf. Incense is used.

 

We’ve got three different children’s choirs, and we need YOUR child to come join us for the fun! We raise our voices in praise of our God and sing at Masses several times throughout the year. For more info and links to each choir, see below .

The Grace Notes Children’s Choir (K – 2nd grade children) This choir  is a fun, uplifting, and positive way to introduce the young child to the church choir. Your child will strengthen his or her relationship with Jesus, while having a great time singing, dancing and playing through music. The Grace Notes sing a prelude to four Sunday Masses during the choir season. Rehearsals: Every first and third Thursday, September through May, from 5 to 5:30 pm, in the choir room at the main campus.  Just come to the choir room and get ready to sing! Time commitment: 30 minute rehearsals twice monthly, plus 1.5 hours for Mass four times during the choir season.

It is time for an update!
How long have you been a member of St. Matthew? Our parish records are showing signs of age. Most of the information in our database was provided when you registered at St. Matthew. Much of it is outdated, particularly phone numbers and email addresses. We have reached out via email to as many households as possible, but if we have not reached you, please take a few moments to  to complete the census electronically. Click here to access the census.

We want to stay in touch. Thank you!

 

The purpose of the Diocesan Support Appeal (DSA) is to help provide the annual funding necessary to carry out the mission of our diocese – namely to fulfill our call to “grow ever more perfectly into a community of praise, worship and witness, and to become a leaven of service and sign of peace through love in the Piedmont and Western North Carolina.” The DSA provides funding for the ministerial arm of the diocese.

The DSA provides support for more than 20 services that Catholic Charities of Charlotte offers throughout the diocese. The appeal also provides funding for the Housing Ministry, Education Ministries (providing over 30 different services), Multicultural Ministries, Eucharistic Congress, and Vocations. Some of these ministries provide services beyond the scope of individual parishes and some exist for the sole purpose of assisting parishes in their own mission to teach, evangelize and serve.

To make your pledge, click here.

 

 

2019-21 Pastoral Plan Executive Summary

2019-2021 Pastoral Plan

Get involved! Click here to see how you can help make the Pastoral Plan a success!

To the faithful disciples of St. Matthew Catholic Church,

I am pleased to offer for your consideration the 2019-2021 Parish Pastoral Plan for our parish family.

I was appointed as the pastor of this amazing community shortly over one year ago. In that time, I have experienced great joy in the fruits of the Holy Spirit that have been at work here since 1986.  The vibrant liturgies, the sacrificial service, and the spirit of evangelization that is so evident here draws all who pass through our doors into a large, yet intimate, parish family, but most importantly, into a personal relationship with the Lord.

We are not unaware, however, of the challenges that we face in today’s world. Secular experts have declared the current times as the beginning of the “post-Christian” era. God is seen as no longer relevant in a culture that has determined truth to be subjective and the individual to be the only true god. Mass attendance is in decline, reception of the sacraments has become less common, and young people are leaving the Church in alarming numbers. Our parish community is no exception to this trend.

But we are not the first to confront a world that rejects Jesus. The first disciples, in fact, were met with skepticism, hostility, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Alone, they were powerless.  And so they did what Jesus taught them to do—to seek an intimate relationship with the Father, who would fill them with the power that would transform the world.

Our 2019-2021 Parish Pastoral Plan, then, is based on that simple model. By fostering a deeper spirituality in our parish community, and by using the gifts we are given in our encounter with youth and young adults, we allow the Spirit to speak and act through us.

It worked 2000 years ago. With God’s help, it will work for us today.

I look forward to our future together.

Faithfully,

Patrick T. Hoare
Pastor

I

Prayer is the key to all we do here at St. Matthew. If we are not praying for each other, and for our parish, we can’t hope to serve the Lord and his people to the best of our ability while drawing on his grace. I invite you to join in prayer for our parish and for each other every day at 3 pm. Set your cell phone alarm for 3:00 and stop…no matter what you’re in the middle of….and pray an Our Father for our parish and for intentions.

Let’s count on one another’s prayers!

The release of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report this past week reminds us once again of the terrible crimes that were committed by some members of the clergy, and reveals inexcusable instances of poor judgment, deception, and negligence in the pastoral care of the victims of sexual abuse.  This, and the recent accusations against former Cardinal McCarrick, once again open wounds that cause many of us great pain, and have led some to question our faith and trust in the institution of the Church founded by Christ Himself.

I have had multiple discussions over the past several days with priest friends of mine, and also with the clergy here at St. Matthew.  These reports cause us great pain and in some cases anger toward those entrusted with the authority to administer justice and to keep vulnerable children and adults out of harm’s way.  The priests that I know well answered the call to the priesthood to serve you, to share with you God’s love and mercy, and to bring you the power of the sacraments, and we can’t understand how such abuse and injustice was tolerated by those with the power to stop it.

I humbly ask you to pray with us above all for healing and consolation for those who have been harmed, for justice to be done in each case of abuse, and that the hierarchy would decisively institute additional reforms to prevent this from happening again.  While the Grand Jury report itself acknowledges that much good work has already been done in the last 20 years in responding to reports of abuse, much more is still necessary at the highest levels of the Church to root out any element of evil from among us.

I also ask that, as you pray with us, you also pray for us, the priests and deacons who serve you at this parish, and for all clergy, that we would always live up to our high calling of serving you, the people of God.

 

Prayerfully,

Fr. Patrick T. Hoare

Pastor